Two Steps From Hell
by phoward
Summary: Austi had just graduated and figured she'd spend the summer before community college with her sister and bff, but she was wrong. After being thrown out by her step-mom, she finds herself in Charming. Far from her hometown, Austi's stuck with an uncle she barely knows, his family, and SAMCRO. As time passes she finds herself in a life her dad abandoned in order to raise her safely.
1. Package From Charming

***Author's Note***

**After being away from this story for a while (taking it down for rereading & editing *rewriting some parts too* but getting sidetracked by writing other stories) I decided to actually read, edit, & rewrite my Sons of Anarchy story. The story takes place Pre-Season 1 and is slightly AU. My OC is 18 and Jax will be 21. (Let's face it he looked really young in season 1 lol) I plan to eventually verge into S1 with a few AU twists on things of course.**

**OC Face Claims:**

**Augusta 'Austi' LeAnna Morrow- Blake Lively**

**Cassidy 'Case' Morrow- Woody Harrelson **

**Bianca Taylor-Morrow- Lena Headey **

**Asher Taylor- Rebel Wilson**

**Hope Beckett- Natalie Dormer**

**Jordan Kohn- Shawn Hatosy**

**Mark 'Markel' Bennett- Ben Robson**

**Okay so be nice, read, and please review.**

* * *

**Package From Charming**

**Austi POV:**

It was humid and I was sweaty as hell in my car since my ac was busted. The windows were rolled down, but it wasn't doing much to cool me off in this abnormally hot early June weather. Sweat was rolling down my nose, great there goes my foundation. My so called make-up guru best fried Hope, who I was on the way to pick up to bring to our high school graduation, will most likely freak out if she sees me with messed up make-up. Hope was one of those self-proclaimed make-up gurus and fashion divas. Once we hit 8th grade she started to really get into all that girly stuff along with getting her curves. Me on the other hand, well I was a late bloomer and didn't start looking more pretty til 15 or so. Hope's big on trends. She's always changing her hair, make-up, and style with whatever she sees in the hot pages of magazines like Cosmopolitan and Glamour. Currently, because of one of her magazines, she was sporting bleached hair and a half shaved head with a braid running down where hair stopped and the shaved part began. She reminded me of that one girl in that Mockingjay movie, just without the head tattoos.

I noticed that my turn was coming up so I flipped on my blinker and made my turn onto the street that had all these cute brick houses on it. Hope was sitting on her front porch looking boho chic in a rose maxi dress, her emerald graduation gown unzipped like a makeshift fashion robe, as I pulled up her driveway. Leave it to Hope Beckett to make graduation getup fashionable…

"About time you got here, girl." Hope said as she got up, grabbing her graduation cap and bronze clutch that was on the wicker bench next to her.

"Whatever, just get your ass in my car." I jokingly told her while I boiled in my gown that was on top of my cream and rust-red knee length dress that was actually my old homecoming dress from freshman year. Yep, I couldn't afford a new dress for today's occasion, but with how my parents are drunks that live payday to payday and for their next drink it's not feasible.

She just responded by laughing and quickly walked down to my car. "Air still broken?" Hope asked as she opened the door to my car and sat down in her seat.

"Yup." I said as she shut her door. "B-Bitch says its fine and told my dad not to worry bout having my car fixed; that they had more important things to spend their money on. She says that they got me the car so it's my responsibility to maintain the upkeep." I told her, pulling out of the driveway and speeding down her street.

"You and Bianca still don't like each other?" Hope asked me about my step-mother as I turned on my signal and prepared to turn back onto the main road.

"No and she's been married to my dad since I was like 10." I told my friend, looking both ways; causing my dangling pearl earrings to sway a bit. "We'll never like each other." I sighed while turning onto the road.

Hope reached over onto my dash where I kept my pack of Marlboro Reds and grabbed the pack. She was a social smoker, meaning she only ever smoked around me cause she stole my cigs. "Shame since you're step-sister's nice even though she's a bit corky." She said as she took a cig out of the pack along with the lighter; lighting it and taking a long drag from it.

"Corky?" I asked rhetorically as I grabbed my pack of reds out of her hand along with the lighter. "She's just funny and a bit too random, but yea she's nice. She's almost 17; next year is her big senior year." I remarked as I got my own cig, lit it, and tossed my pack back onto the dash.

"Yep, it'll be big…" Hope sighed as we both took drags off our smokes.

"Hey, be nice." I told Hope, picking up that the remark was about Asher's weight. My step-sister Asher was a big girl but she was nice and she never let it bother her. She was self-confident and proud of herself which was unbelievable considering who her mother was. My step-mother Bianca, or as I sometimes called her behind her back, B-Bitch, loved to criticize and put down everyone. Especially her husband, daughter, and step-daughter. She was, in my opinion, once beautiful until the wine and her nasty tongue got the best of her.

"Okay, I won't make any more fat jokes bout Asher." Hope sighed as we rolled down the road in my ford focus, smoking and flicking ashes out of our windows.

* * *

I was sitting in the hard metal fold up chair in my high school's gym waiting for the valedictorian to finish her speech. The girl was nice and I had a few classes with her, but we weren't by any means friends. I think it was because her parents were super strict and didn't let her go out much. Eh, whatever. I was stuck sitting between this redhead guy who annoyed me since elementary school named Gage Morris and some snobby brunette girl named Sarah Mueller. Yep, today was a great day to be a Morrow. I got stuck sitting between a pair of assholes.

Whenever I heard the girl up on stage ended her speech with the mumbo jumbo about how our class will make a huge impact on the world and one day we will come back in 10 years for a reunion and be blown away by our classmates I was excited, but only since I would be getting my diploma soon. After the speech Principal Marks took the microphone from the girl, her name was Becky, and she rushed off the stage to get back to her seat among the rest of us.

"It is now time to hand out the diplomas. I will call each student's name and then present them with their diploma." Principal Marks told the crowd while the first row got up and lined up by the stairs to the stage. Since we had a graduation practice a few days prior everyone knew what to do with the line up and stuff.

After what seemed like an eternity my row rose and made our way to the line that was already by the stage stairs. One after another names were called and then finally I heard the principal say, "Augusta LeAnna Morrow." I rushed up the stairs, took my emerald and gold diploma case and shook the old man's hand. I turned to look at the crowd and scanned it for my family real quick. I found them to the left on one of the top bleachers. I smiled and then walked off the stage, but not before raising my diploma over my head and making the rock on sign with one of my hands.

I, Austi Morrow, had just been freed of Northon High!

After the ceremony was over it was pure chaos in the field by the gym as parents and their kids were finding each other for pictures. Friends were also finding one another too. I spotted my step-sister's blonde hair shinning in the sun as she ran over to me squealing, "Sissy, you did it! You graduated from this hell hole, yay!"

"Yep, I did it." I said as I suddenly felt her wrap her arms around me and pull me into a bone breaking bear hug right around the same time my dad and Bianca walked up.

"Ashie, let go of your sister." Bianca said as she rolled her eyes. Her hair looked extra brassy today, guess that's what happens when you dye black hair blonde…

"You did good, kid." My dad told me as Asher let go of me. He had his chin length blonde hair parted down the middle and was wearing a nice blue button up with a tie for the special occasion (which was uncommon for him since never dresses up) so I know that me graduating means a lot to him. He says all the time that I'm the Morrow to go places, whatever the hell he means by that I don't know.

"Let's take pictures so that we can go eat dinner at the steak house." Bianca said, not even telling me congratulations or anything. I mean I did just graduate. Whatever, maybe she'll spill steak sauce on her ugly white blouse if I'm lucky. "Put your cap back on, you need to wear it for the pictures." The bitch told me.

"No, it'll mess up my hair." I defiantly told my step-mother.

"Augusta, you're hair's already a mess. It won't make any difference so put on the cap." Bianca told me in a sweet, but vile voice as she poked fun at my slightly wavy blonde hair.

"It makes a difference to me, I said no." I protested since I really didn't want to wear the cap for pictures.

She looked at me while snapping, "But the pictures will look so much better with the cap on."

"Mom, she doesn't need to wear the cap. We can take pictures without it." Asher said, coming to my aid.

"No, she needs to wear the cap." Bianca snapped back at her own daughter, making the large girl cower.

"Just put on the damn cap so we can take a picture. I need a smoke and I can't do that as long as we're on school grounds." My dad told me with a sigh and a somewhat tired look in his eye.

Shit, he's not the only one that needs a smoke. Cigs just won't do while dealing with the Mommy Dearest reincarnate, I'm gonna need a toke of a nice fat blunt after all of this is said and done. Damnit, guess I'm defeated since dad is siding with B-Bitch. "Fine, I'll put the cap on." I said, roughly shoving the green hat with the green and gold tassel hanging from it on my head.

Bianca just smiled and then turned round to wave down some poor innocent soul to take pictures of us as a family and all that fake ass bullshit since our family was real fucked up if you ask me.

* * *

Music blared out of some potable speakers that some random party goer's iPod was connected to. I was standing by the old rotten wooden structure that was once a lumber mill back in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The old Miller Mill was smack dab in the middle of the North Dale Woods right by Dread Lake; it was also where all the local teens of Northon went to have big parties and bonfires. Northon was a small town maybe 50 or so miles outside of Columbus, so the only place we could party at was by the old mill since the town was isolated and small. It was just your typical North Midwestern hellhole.

I heard a Taylor Swift song start up so I began to bop my head along to the beat as I waited for Hope to finish her pee break in the woods. We had been partying since right before sunset and it was a little past dusk now so naturally Hope had to take off to go pee behind some tree in the woods. I was finishing up my can of now lukewarm Bud-Light whenever a tall and lanky boy I knew briefly from a math class and a few science classes came up to me. "Hi, Augusta, how are you?" I heard him ask me as he shakily held a full red solo cup in his right hand.

"I'm fine…um…" I replied, struggling to remember the awkward geek's name who always gave me the creeps.

"Jordan." He quickly told me with a smile that sent shivers down my spine. He was wearing a light green button up shirt complete with a dark and light green striped tie. Who the hell keeps their tie on at a bonfire grad party at a mill by the lake? Like seriously what's wrong with Jordan?

I nodded my head and put on a small, but fake smile. "Oh…yea…Jordan…"

"I'm going to be a federal agent one day like my uncle. I got accepted into Quantico. That's the academy the agents go to in Washington D.C." Jordan babbled or perhaps bragged to me. I didn't give a shit though, I didn't like cops.

Well, not after me and Hope got arrested outside of IHop in the parking lot for truancy a few months back. It was snowing so it should've been a snow day, but the school district didn't think the snow was bad enough so the schools stayed open. Open in a random March blizzard. Anyways Hope decided that instead of going to school we should go to IHop for some kickass pancakes and then drive to Columbus to go shopping. We never made it to Columbus to the mall since a cop was waiting for us in the parking lot. I got slammed into the hood of the car, searched, cuffed, and shoved into the back of the car. My shit got dumped onto the icy parking lot and I had to pick it up before getting cuffed. Cop was nicer to Hope then he was to me. He asked her to put her hands up before frisking her and then he nicely cuffed her and put her into the back of the car with me. We got booked and everything, our parents had to come bail us out. My dad was beyond pissed at me. So lucky me I got a record for something stupid. Yay!

Like I said I don't like cops and this creeper geek wanted to become not just a cop, but a fed. Oh no, he's nuts. Honestly the way Jordan kept smiling at me while inching closer to me as he waited for me to respond to him was freaking me out. His hand was still shaking, causing some liquid to spill out of the red solo cup and onto his shiny black plastic looking dress shoes. I had to get away from him and now.

"Good for you, Jordan. That's nice to hear, but I got to go find my friend. Bye." I told him quickly before tossing my beer can to the ground and quickly running off to the part of the woods I had seen Hope head to for her pee break.

Before I reached the woods where I was sure Hope was in, I ran into my on-again off-again ex, Mark 'Markel' Bennett. He was holding a beer and was surrounded by some of his football buddies, no doubt bragging about his impending move to Texas to play college ball (he got a full ride scholarship so..). Our last break-up was a bit messy, but talking to him while I waited for Hope would save me from being bothered by Jordan anymore.

"Hey, Markel, what's up?" I asked him, stopping by his side.

He turned his attention away from his buddies (one of them who used to mess around with Hope back in the day) only to give me a head tilt and a lined smile. "Nothing much, just talking bout college ball." Taking a slug of his beer, he added in, "I move to Texas soon, in a couple more weeks."

I could feel his friends'eyes on us in heavy stares as I politely told Markel, "That's nice." Dear lord, Hope, hurry up and pee so I can be saved from the awkwardness of dealing with my ex.

"So, you over here cause you miss me or is the bestie a no show?"

"I'd never miss you, you manwhore." I bluntly told Mark causing him to let out a chuckle and shake his head, causing his massive man-bun to wobble a bit. "I'm waiting on Hope, she's behind a tree somewhere using the lil girls' room."

"Too bad, for a minute I thought we were gonna make up again."

"After that bullshit you pulled before prom, never." I scoffed before looking around, trying to see if I could spot Hope. I didn't see her, but I swear I saw Jordan standing in the distance sipping his solo cup and watching me. What the fuck?

* * *

When I got home it was late since I went to that big grad party at the old mill out by the lake. The front porch light was on and everyone in the house was asleep. I unlocked the door with my key and walked right on in, shutting the white country styled door behind me. With my bag slung over my shoulder I headed towards the stairs that was straight in my line of sight. I trudged up them, holding onto the white banister as I went up to the second story of my house. Right as I stepped off the last step I decided to head on over to the couch that was in the open layout game and sitting room right to the left of the stairwell. The only reason why me and my step-sister had a couch, a pair of chairs, a coffee table, and a tv with a dvd player and game system upstairs in the area off of the stairs was because Bianca didn't want us hanging around downstairs all of the time. I don't think that my dad gave a shit; he just goes with whatever she tells him. He's out of it and distant most of the time (choosing to drink himself into Crown comas most of the time) so…

After reaching the small couch I sat down on it and tossed my bag onto the oak wood coffee table. I noticed that on top of the table was a large manila envelope with my name and address written boldly on it. I reached over and grabbed the envelope and looked at the top corner to see who sent it. I saw one of those address label stickers stuck to the corner. It had a crow on it instead of the usual cute shit likes flowers, puppies, or monograms. The information on it said Morrow and had an address for Charming, California on it. Ah, so my estranged Uncle Clay sent me something. That was nice, but why in Sam's Hill did he use a big ass envelope to do it. What did he put in there? I mean I've only ever talked to him the handful of times he's called my dad to check up on him over the past 12 or 13 years. Clay thought my dad had a developed a drinking problem since my real mom died when I was very little, but my dad didn't view his Crown Royal bottle a day habit a problem.

Curiously and excitedly I opened up the envelope and put my hand in to take out whatever was in it. First I pulled out a small card, I assumed it was a card since the small square envelope was white, and then I put my hand back into the large envelope and pulled out a wad of cash. I nearly had a stroke when I looked at it. I was holding a banded stack of 100 dollar bills. Quickly I took off the band and counted the money. Holy shit, Uncle Clay gave me a grand in cash! Hot damn! Yea, I'm so not telling anybody about my money. I got a shit ton of money now, yay!

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, since I was way too excited about the grand I just got in cash, I took the small envelope and opened it. I pulled out the card. It was square and white, the bottom of it had black stripes on it and the top had a bunch of black cap and tassels on it. Right in the middle was a black lace border and a white small square word box on it that said 'Celebrate Today' in black fancy script. I opened up the card and looked at the neat writing in it. Then I proceeded to read the message in the card, which was:

_Austi,_

_Congratulations baby, you did it. You stuck it out and got your diploma. Your family is proud of you. Graduating is a very big deal in this family. Go out and do what you want to do now. Enjoy these young years, baby. You're young, follow your dreams and let those wings fly. _

_Love,_

_Clay, Gemma, & Jax_

After reading my card all I could think of was who the fuck is Jax?

* * *

**AN:**

**I need to reread/edit the next chapter, but it should be up in a few days. **


	2. Rehoming Like A Kitten

***Author's Note***

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. You guys are so nice. **

* * *

**Rehoming Like A Kitten**

**Austi POV:**

It's been a few weeks since I graduated and so far, my summer's been good. I've been hanging out with Hope a lot and when I'm not out with her I'm at home with Asher. Today I was at home with Asher; we were lounging around in our entertainment room binge watching Blue Bloods. She was sprawled out on the couch while I on the other hand was curled up on the chair by the couch.

"You know Tom Selleck always has that mustache. I swear he has it in everything I see him in." Asher told me, pointing to the tv.

I laughed at her and shook my head. "Only you would notice that."

"What?" She asked me with a giggle. "It's true."

Before I could say anything back to Asher I heard the thud of feet speed walking (well actually bounding and storming) up the stairs paired with the shrill voice of my stepmother shrieking, "It's been nearly a month and all you do is sit on your ass all day or go out with that shaved head girl!" Bianca, once upstairs, rushed over to the entertainment stand. She put her hand behind the tv and yanked the plug so hard that it didn't come out of the power-bar, but unplugged the power-bar from the wall. "I've had enough of your shit; you're out of my house by tomorrow night!" She screamed at me.

My blue eyes popped out of my head, "What?"

Asher just remained quiet and wide-eyed, knowing better then to try and say anything when her mother was in a wine fueled rage. Oh, she was definitely in a wine fueled rage since a small splash of red wine was freshly stained on her cream shirt. Stay at home wino at her finest. You know how they say like people get together (example pretty with pretty and smart with smart), well that's why my dad's with Bianca since they're both alcoholics. She's the pushy wino while he's the drunk that disconnects with reality. Great match to have for parents huh?... Not really…

"You heard me, you're out of school and it's time for you to get out of my house." She seethed, calming down slightly since she didn't scream this time around.

"Does dad know?" I asked with a raised brow. I doubt it since he's on shift at the local garage today.

"I'll tell him when he gets home; you know he'll side with me so get packing." Bianca told me before pivoting on her heel and walking downstairs, probably to go guzzle down some more of her arbor red wine. Hell, only reason he'd side with her was cause he hated confrontations and conflicts. It was like he avoided arguments at all costs, but he wasn't totally their mentally either. Fuck, if I'm honest we're all a bit screwed in the head in this family.

Now I had to call up Hope and tell her I needed somewhere to stay. I feel like a kitten in the penny saver, except I'm not a cute kitten needing to be rehomed.

* * *

I was sitting on my bed with my dinosaur of a laptop on my lap. It was an old clunky black Compaq that I named the Com-Crap. It was slow and the keys stuck at times, but it got the job done. I put my passcode into the screen and waited for the screen to unlock. I needed to find out a number to call for my Uncle Clay and since my dad wasn't home from work yet I had to use google to find it. As soon as the screen unlocked I clicked on my internet button and then when the google home page popped up I quickly typed in Clay Morrow Charming, CA into the search box and hit enter. After what seemed like forever the results loaded up. I saw a link to the business section of the yellow pages listed first so I clicked on that. What came up was information for an auto repair shop my uncle owned called Teller-Morrow. I grabbed my silver square Nokia cell and quickly dialed the number that I had found.

"Hello, Teller-Morrow Automotive, how may I help you today?" I heard a woman ask me over the phone.

Oh here goes nothing. "Hi, um, I need to talk to Clay. It's his niece from Ohio, Austi."

"Austi, did you like what we sent you? How are you, baby?" The woman, who I now figured was Gemma since she called me baby and that was written in my card, suddenly changed her attitude and got all nice and chatty with me.

"Oh, the gift was great, I liked it a lot." I told her since I honestly liked the gift. I mean it wasn't everyday I got a grand in the mail.

"Good, but how are you? Why are you calling looking for Clay at 9 o'clock in the morning?" She asked seriously, but nicely.

Oh, shit, it's still early out there. I forgot about the time difference between Ohio and California. I figured that if I wanted to ask Uncle Clay if I can stay with him then I need to be honest with Gemma and tell her why I called. I mean she must be close to Clay since she was a part of my grad gift and card. "My step-mother just told me that I need to move out by tomorrow night. At first I asked my best friend if I can stay with her, but her mom's boyfriend said no. So, tomorrow night I'm going to be homeless living in my car and I don't want to do that." After my long tale of sorrow, I quickly added in the question of, "Can I maybe ask Clay if he'll let me stay with him for a bit?"

"You don't need to ask Clay anything." Gemma told me. Great, rejected again… Damn, looks like I'm stuck calling up Markel and seeing if he wants to spring for an off-campus apartment with some of his student aid money. Even tho he got a scholarship to Texas for football he got student aid checks too since his parents didn't have a boat load of money. Just what I don't wanna do. Just when I was about to say thanks and bye Gemma surprised me with, "Baby, you come on out and stay with us. We take care of family here in Charming."

"Okay, but are you sure Clay won't mind?"

"Don't you worry about a thing; I'll deal my old man."

"Okay, thank you so much, Gemma." I told her, truthfully thankful that she was giving me a place to stay with her and Clay. After hearing her call my uncle her 'old man' I quickly figured out that she must be with him.

"Oh, baby, make sure that cunt of a step-mother of yours gives you enough money for the trip here. I don't want you sleeping in some god awful truck stop and eating Twinkies on your way here."

"Okay, I'll tell her that." I replied, trying not to laugh.

Gemma then gave me the address to my new home before telling me, "Bye, baby, we'll see you in a few days."

"Bye Gemma." I told her before hanging up.

So…guess I'm not going to be homeless after all. So now I finally knew who Gemma was, she was either Clay's wife or girlfriend, but I still had no fucking clue about who the hell Jax was.

* * *

After talking to Gemma, I went to the local general store to buy boxes and packing supplies, but as my luck would go, they didn't have anything I needed in stock. I needed to go to Walmart to buy boxes, meaning I'm stuck driving to Columbus. Since I didn't want to drive there by myself, I called up Hope and asked her if she wanted to go to the city with me to buy some moving supplies. Of course she said yes so I swung by her house and got her.

That's how I currently found myself on I-71 headed to Columbus with Hope, who was demanding to make the trip with me to California the following day. "But you can't go on a cross-country road trip by yourself; you could get kidnapped or something."

"It's not a cross-country road trip, it's a move, and I'm not going to get kidnapped." I rolled my eyes at her as I flicked some ashes from my cig out of my window.

Hope started waving her hands around frantically, which was a bit nerve wracking since she was holding a lit cig in one, while squealing, "Don't you watch any crime shows? A young woman traveling alone is prime picking for the crazies; I have to go with you."

I took a drag of my smoke and tried not to roll my eyes. "Of course I watch crime shows." I shook my head and let out a long sigh before telling Hope, "Fine, you can come with me. Just ask your mom or Matt if you can help me move to my uncle's, okay."

"Yea, I'll ask them when we get back to Northon, but I already know that they'll let me go." Hope told me as she went back to smoking. "So, what do you know about these people you're moving in with?" She asked since she had no idea, I had family outside of my dad, step-mom, and step-sister.

"Nothing much, just that Clay's my uncle and that Gemma's his wife or girlfriend and apparently they work at his auto garage." I answered as we smoked and rode down the highway.

"And you've never met them?" Hope pressed with a pointed look on her overly made-up face.

"Not Gemma, but I think I met Clay as a little kid before moving to Northon. " I admitted with a shrug while driving in bumper to bumper highway traffic.

"You met him?"

"Probably since before moving to Northon I lived near Oakland. Dad moved us here when I was like 5 or 6 maybe. It was after my mom died." I explained since not many people, even my best friend, knew that I was originally from California. "I don't really remember him though, but over the years I've said hi to him when he randomly calls up my dad." Actually, I didn't remember much before moving to Ohio, but whatever.

Hope tossed her now used up cig out the window. "Okay, so where exactly in California are you moving to?"

While tossing my cig bud out the window I told Hope, "Some town called Charming."

"Charming, sounds nice." Hope said while pressing buttons on the radio, looking for something to listen to.

"Charming sounds charming." I snipped back at her as she decided to leave the radio on a station that was playing some annoying Pitbull song. Time to find another channel to listen too.

* * *

It was almost 6 at night and I had just finished boxing up my sweaters and was now working on boxing up my dresses whenever I heard a slight knock on my door. I stopped packing; went to my door and opened it. Standing on the other side was my dad. His hair was messy and he was still in his navy-blue mechanic work shirt and steel-toed work boots so I figured he just got home.

"So, kid, where you going?" My dad asked me in a tired voice. I imagine that he was just yelled at by Bianca about how I had to be out of the house and that's why he was up here asking me where I was going. My dad hated confrontations, usually just indulged my step-mother to get her off of his back. Why he was like this I didn't know. He seemed a bit dissociated at times too, but reckon it's cause he's an alcoholic.

"Charming, to stay with Uncle Clay and Gemma." I honestly answered him as I stood in my doorway, waiting for his reaction.

"Charming?" My dad asked in a high-pitched voice, looking like the policeman in Frosty the Snowman right before he swallows his whistle. He crossed his arms and leaned against my doorframe while sighing, "I thought that you'd stay in town at Hope's til you found a job and apartment."

"No, her mom's boyfriend said there's no room for me there." I told my dad the reason why staying with my best friend wasn't an option.

"And moving to Texas with that jackass jock isn't an option either?" Dad asked, his brow arched up curiously. Really, he'd rather me move to Austin with my manwhore on-off ex then to Charming with family? What the fuck, dad?

"No." Um why would I stick myself with Markel when I got the greenlight to stay with Uncle Clay? Yea, be pretty foolish to look a gift horse in the mouth. My dad looked disappointed upon hearing my now. Really? He always hated Mark, but now he's rather have me with him then staying with Uncle Clay, his baby brother? Figuring I should at least explain how I managed to get the okay to move to Charming, I told him, "But I found the number for Teller-Morrow and called to see if I could talk to Clay and Gemma answered, I told her I had to move and she said to stay with them."

Dad just rolled his eyes. "Of course Gemma would invite you to stay…"

"You know Gemma?" I asked my dad, surprise evident in my voice.

"Yea, she's Clay's wife; I know her well enough." Dad told me in a flat tone.

"Is she nice?" I asked since I felt that she might be just from the brief phone call I had with her.

"About as nice as a rabid raccoon on crack…" I heard my dad mumble before he loudly told me, "Yea, she's nice enough to ya if you're family."

"Well, she did tell me that they take care of family out there."

"Oh, boy, do they ever." My dad chuckled. "You've got no idea what family you'll be joining out there…"

"Huh?" I asked with a quirked brow. I'm starting to get a bit confused now and I'm not some dumbass either. Why's dad making these odd remarks about family?

"You'll be thrown to the crows, joining their murder." He seriously stated as he stood up straight and away from my door frame, unfolding his arms from his chest. He then placed a hand on my shoulder and told me, "I'm off tomorrow, before you head on out to Charming I need to give you something for the trip."

"Okay." I told my dad before he turned around and walked off down the hall towards the stairs.

What could he need to give me for my trip? Also, what could he possibly mean by me being thrown to the crows and joining a murder of them? What did crows have to do with my soon to be new life and family in Charming? God, my dad was being really cryptic. Hell, did he start nipping the bottle by spiking his coffee at work or something?

* * *

**AN:**

**It'll take me a few days to go over the next chapter. I might rewrite parts or just do a simple edit, I'm not too sure yet. But anyways Austi sure does come from a colorful family, doesn't she?...**


	3. Moving Day

***Author's Note***

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows.**

* * *

**Moving Day**

**Case POV:**

I wasn't too crazy about my daughter moving to Charming. We left Joaquin County for a reason and I honestly never wanted either of us to ever go back. At least she didn't have the memories of that place like I did. According to the shrink I took her to after moving here she suppressed everything cause it was too painful for her young kiddie mind to comprehend. Austi might never remember either, all depends on whether or not her adult mind feels she's able to handle the pain that accompanies them. Sadly, the memories haunted me; driving me to drink in order to forget and numb the pain that they caused.

I was digging around in my closet looking for a box I shoved back there over a decade ago whenever I bought the house. It was buried underneath a bunch of clothes and blankets by now, but I just had to find that box. I tossed all sorts of things out of the closet I shared with my pain in the ass wife until I found the old taped up box in the back corner of the closet. I picked up the box and brought it over to the bed, setting it down. Quickly I pulled my pocket knife from my pack jeans pocket and sliced open the duct tape that was keeping the box sealed. After the tape was cut, I folded the knife up and put it back in my pocket.

I closed my eyes for a moment before opening the flaps of the old cardboard box. I reached into the box and lifted my old leather cut out of the box. The reaper on that cut held a sickle made from an A-K along with a crystal ball marked with the anarchy sign. The reaper mocked me along with the words framing the top and bottom of him, the words that said Sons Of Anarchy MC California. The design on the back of the cut was forever inked onto my back. I should've gotten it removed or covered, but I couldn't because it meant admitting that I was once an outlaw biker. It was a punishable offense to keep any Sons tats once out of the club, but my dumbass kept them. In a way I was too ashamed of what I had been, had done, and what my actions caused (ultimately the death of my wife) to walk into a tattoo parlor to get them covered. Also, I was never actually voted out of the club…I just took my kid and bolted instead of going on the cross-country bike ride that I was supposed to be going on to clear the noise in my head after my wife died. Sadly, that noise ain't ever gettin' cleared.

I turned the cut over to look at the front, reading the patches that said First 9 and Sgt at Arms on the right and Redwood Original on the left. Yea, I wasn't just an outlaw biker, but one of the founders of the Sons. Reckon that's why I hightailed it out of Cali, I wanted to raise my daughter away from the death and chaos that took her mom's life and threated to take mine too. Staring at those patches made me remember the hard man I once was, the man before my wife's murder emotionally and mentally crippled me; left me a stoic drunk.

I placed the cut on the bed and then took out a large leather-bound picture album. I dared not to open that; the memories would destroy me. I just placed it on top of the cut on the bed. Looking into the box I saw a mini arsenal of all types of hand guns. I took out one that looked like it would be easy enough for Austi to handle if she had to use it. I had to give her something for protection; she was driving to California and would be living in Charming. Lord only knows how dangerous that town and the county it's in has gotten over the years. If I didn't have to work, I'd be taking her myself, but I couldn't call off for fear of losing my job. I wrote very detailed directions for her so she should be safe. I listed all the large and neutral places for her stops.

I put the gun in the waistband of my jeans before pulling out a small box of bullets and stuffing them into the pocket of my shirt. I picked up the old leather-bound picture album, but a few pictures fell out of it. Still holding the old album in my hand, I bent down to pick up the pictures. One was of me and my old lady, Sylvia, the day she got her crow and another was of me and Sylvia while she was nearly 9 months pregnant with Austi. I picked up another only to see me sitting next to Sylvia on the edge of her hospital bed with our newborn baby in my arms. The last picture I picked up was of me, my little brother Clay, John Teller, and Piney Winston at a party. It was taken a few weeks before I lost Sylvia, before my life turned to shit because of my greedy little brother pressuring John to run more guns.

Ironic how guns started the domino effect that made my old lady get killed in a targeted attack meant for me in a drive by at our house with our small daughter fast asleep in her room. After losing Sylvia I left the club life and took my baby as far away from it as I could. Never did I dream in a million years the baby I wanted to protect would grow up and fly straight into the murder of crows.

* * *

**Austi POV:**

My dad helped me pack my car and I was glad since it meant that loading up the car didn't take a lot of time. My step-sister Asher had went out last night and stayed with a friend (I just think she couldn't handle saying goodbye and watching me leave) while my step-mother was actually sober and at work so it was just me and my dad standing in the driveway. We were quietly staring at each other, not knowing what to say. God, we were always bad at communication.

So, I guess one of us needs to say goodbye soon. "Oh, I got something for your trip." Dad told me as he motioned with his head for me to follow him.

Guess no goodbye yet. "What'd you get me?" I asked as I followed him along the path that went to the backyard.

"You'll see in a minute." He said as we continued to make our way to the backyard.

When we entered the backyard, I noticed that the patio table had a bunch of empty crown bottles lined up on it. What the hell? "Um, you're giving me a bunch of your empty whiskey bottles?" I asked my dad, a bit confused.

"No, this." He said as he reached around to the back of his waistband and pulled a small silver gun with a black handle out of his jeans.

I was shocked. Slight panicked, I shrieked, "What? That's a gun, dad!"

"I know it's a gun, it's for you." He said, extending the weapon towards me.

"For me?" I asked with wide-eyes. Since when was my dad the type to have heat? Looking between the gun and my dad's whiskey-worn face, I asked, "Wait, we have guns in the house?"

"Yes, I have some old guns hidden away." My dad admitted to me.

Seriously, he has guns hidden away in our house, what the hell? "But why do I need a gun for?" I asked a bit leerily.

"It's for your protection. You're a young lady traveling alone; the highway can be dangerous." My dad explained like I was some kind of idiot.

Great, now my dad sounds like Hope. Hope, that's right she's coming with me. "Hope's coming with me; I'm not going to be alone driving out there to Charming." I blurted out, informing my dad that I was using the buddy system on my cross-country drive.

"Even better reason to have a gun, so take it." My dad remarked as he flipped the gun around so that the handle was now exposed for my fingers to grasp it. He shoved it forward, urging me to take it.

"Fine." I grabbed the gun from him. I looked at it and asked, "Is it loaded?"

"Yep." My dad simply answered and then shoved his hand in his shirt pocket only to pull out a box of bullets. Tossing them to me, he simply said, "You'll need these too."

Quickly, I caught the box. "Why do I need bullets for?"

"To reload the gun with." My dad simply shrugged before announcing, "We're having a shooting lesson 'fore you go."

"Okay…" Now I couldn't be happier that our nearest neighbor was a good 2 or 3 acres away. I'm pretty sure that target practice in the backyard isn't legal.

* * *

After about a half hour of shooting at empty whiskey bottles in the backyard I finally hit one. Yay! How exciting I can shoot something with a gun now. I looked over my shoulder at my dad and smiled at him. "I hit it!"

"Guess you're good to go now kid." My dad chuckled.

"Really?" I asked, turning around so that I could be face to face with my dad.

"Yea, I can't keep you here any longer. Besides Hope's waiting for you to pick her up."

"Yea."

My dad pointed to my small pistol while telling me, "You put that in your bag once you get in the car and keep it near you at all times."

"Okay, I will." I told him even though I felt weird about driving over state lines with a gun in my bag.

"I still can't believe you're moving to Charming." My dad sighed as he pulled me into his side for a half-hug.

"Yea, well, I am." I reminded him, patting his back.

My dad broke our half-hug and looked me in the eye while saying, "You call me as soon as you get there."

"I will." I told my dad with a pained smile. Saying goodbye is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

"You better get going. Come on, kid, I'll walk you to the car." My dad said with sadness in his eyes. It was evident that he wasn't ready for me to move out or on with my life yet, even though he was trying his best to hide it I could see that he was upset.

**Case POV:**

I walked Austi out front to her car and watched her drive away. I shook my head as my fears began to eat away at my head and heart. Oh, I needed a drink and now. Today's too painful. I always knew that my wife and daughter bucked heads, but I never thought that it would cause a move to California. I always just assumed that Austi and her friend Hope would get some shit jobs and get an apartment together, be roommates and all that. Hell, I even thought that she'd end up shacking up with that asswipe Mark if she didn't room with Hope. Lord knows Austi was always on-off with that useless jock.

I prayed to a higher power I'm not sure I even have faith in that Austi would be spared from the havoc and chaos of SAMCRO, even though most likely I knew that my bitter brother and his manipulative wife would try to lasso her in to the club life and push her to become an old lady. My daughter becoming an old lady, getting branded by some jackass's crow, and having biker babies was my worst nightmare. The Sons were gun runners; that came with dangerous enemies and a gun running biker wasn't the type of man I wanted my daughter to settle down with.

I truly hope Austi finds a way out of Charming and Joaquin County in general and isn't sucked in and stuck there forever. She'll just be there for a little bit, or at least that's what I'll convince myself so I can handle her being out there.

Shit, I need a drink.

* * *

**Austi POV:**

Me and Hope had been on the highway going west for about 5 or 6 hours now. We were now getting ready to enter Peoria, Illinois. "I'm going to stop here and get us some food." I told my best friend as I prepared to get off at the upcoming exit ramp.

"Where's here?" Hope asked me as she looked out the window, bored to death I assume since driving through the Midwest is boring.

"Peoria." I simply said, pointing to the sign up ahead signaling the exit ramp.

"Okay, but why couldn't we go to Chicago?" Hope asked as I drove off I-74 and down the Peoria exit.

"Cause Chicago isn't on the road we need to take. Besides my dad gave me a gun and those ain't legal in Chicago to have stuffed in a hobo-bag." I reminded her once again why Chicago wasn't on our way to Charming.

"Your dad would give you a gun." Hope remarked as I drove into Peoria.

"Yea, well, it's so if some crazy person tries to kill or molest us we can protect ourselves."

"Yea, I know that, but I didn't think your dad would be the type to give you a gun."

"You didn't think he'd be the type?" I asked her rhetorically as I spotted a BP station up ahead to my right. "He's my own dad and I never thought he'd be pulling a gun from his waistband gangster style and handing it off to me." I found myself ranting as I pulled into the BP station. "He even had me do target practice with his empty Crown bottles, it was some Wyatt Earp shit." I continued to rant as I found an open gas pump and parked by it.

"Oh, you didn't tell me he had you shooting up the backyard." Hope said as I bent over and grabbed my bag that was by her legs on the passenger side floor.

I took my wallet from my bag while saying. "Yea, well, he did." I slung my bag on my shoulder, opened the door, and got out of the car while Hope grabbed her bag and got out of the car as well.

"That's good I guess." Hope shrugged as we walked to the convenient store across from the gas pumps to pre-pay for our gas and of course to pee.

_**Unmeasured Amount Of Time Later...**_

After getting gas we got some Chick-Fil-A drive thru and got back onto the highway. We were now driving through Iowa and we were surrounded by corn. Fucking corn littered the highway. Now that's some hardcore Midwestern shit right, creepy ass cornfields swallowing up the highway.

"I hate corn." Hope grumbled from next to me as she looked out the window at the corn surrounding us while country music played on the radio. "When are we going to stop? I'm tired."

Tapping my thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat of the music playing out of my speakers, I told my best friend, "Not til it's dark and we're in Nebraska. My dad wrote on the directions he gave me before I left to stop in Lincoln."

"Why Lincoln?"

"Cause it's big and populated. My dad didn't want us stopping in small towns for safety reasons."

"Safety reasons? He gave you a gun; I think we're pretty much safe." Hope scoffed while rolling her eyes at me.

"Yea, well, I don't plan on using it so stopping in the big cities my dad listed is what we're doing."

"This road trip isn't fun. You don't want to do anything or stop anywhere." Hope pouted as Keith Urban started to sing on the radio.

Frustrated with my friend, I sighed, "How many times do I have to tell you that this isn't a road trip? It's a move, Hope, and moves aren't fun."

"Talk bout moves, does anyone other than me know that you're moving?" Hope ask me, turning the volume of the radio down a notch.

"Nope." I answered, popping my tongue.

"You didn't even tell Mark? I would've thought you'd at least brag to him that you're getting out of butt-fuck Ohio too." She told me while grabbing her cup from the cup holder between us.

She just had to bring up Mark or Markel as I sometimes call him. Seriously there was nothing to bring up. We agreed to go our separate ways. It's none of his tall, long and pretty dark-haired butt's business where I move to. He wasn't going to be in my life anymore, he made his choice and I made mine. He was going to be a Texas boy and I had to become a California girl.

"No, why would I tell him? We broke up cause he didn't want a long distance relationship; he took a scholarship to Texas and I'm stuck going to California. My move is nothing to brag about, Hope." I snapped, perhaps a bit too harshly, at my best friend.

"Okay, don't bite my head off, I was just asking." Hope told me as she started to play with the tuning button on my car's radio. Landing on a station playing Metro Station's Shake It she told me, "Listen to this, be happy, and please get us out of the land of corn."

I shook my head with a slight smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as before telling her, "We'll get out of corn-land whenever we hit Omaha, Nebraska. Then we become trapped in the land of corn and cows."

"Moo, I just can't wait." Hope sarcastically scoffed, rolling her eyes before pressing the scanner button on the radio to find a different channel to listen to.

* * *

**AN:**

**Next up (after editing of course) will be Austi arriving in Charming.**


	4. Welcome To Charming

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for the follows, favs, and reviews. Now here is the moment everyone has been waiting for is here, Charming and the Jax meeting. I rewrote a lot of this chapter, which is why it took me a while to get it posted.**

* * *

**Welcome To Charming**

**Austi POV:**

After a couple more days of driving on I-80 we reached California. In order to get to Charming, we had to get off of I-80 and onto I-5. The stretch of highway we were on was desolate now that we had gotten off of I-5 and onto State Road 12. State Road 12 was supposed to run straight through Charming, or at least that's what my dad wrote on the paper he gave me. The temperature was killer too; it had to be close to 100 degrees. With no air in my car we were sweating like pigs.

Hope hated the heat and she let it be known with her complaint of, "Where did your parents send you to, hell? It's hotter than Satan's ass-crack."

"Not hell, Charming, you diva." I laughed at her being a drama queen.

"Charming, more like Satan's ass-crack. Where is Charming at and how much longer do we have to drive in hell for?"

"We just entered Charming." I told her right as I spotted a wooden sign made from a tree core with _Welcome To Charming_ printed in large letters on it. "Welcome To Charming. Our Name Says It All. Population 14, 653." I read directly off of the sign as I drove by it.

"Wow, this place has a bigger population then butt-fuck, Ohio!" Hope exclaimed with excitement after hearing that Charming had a population that was twice as big as Northon. Northon, Ohio was a small town in the North Midwest with about 7,000 or so people living in it.

"Ooo, guess I won the small-town upgrade lotto. This place's twice as big as Northon, talk bout hitting the jackpot." I joked with Hope as the DJ on the rock radio announced that he was putting on some Tom Petty to kick off the Friday 3 o'clock hour with. "Can you get the directions for the house outta my bag? It's the folded-up notebook paper."

After a few seconds of digging around in my bag Hope pulled out the directions. "Got it."

"Good, now tell me where I need to go."

"Keep driving til we get to Downtown Charming."

"Okay." I told my friend. A few minutes later we had reached downtown and suddenly the name of State Road 12 had changed to Main Street. "Keep an eye out for our turn." I told Hope since she had the directions to the house in her hands.

"Sure." Hope told me, looking out of her window at all the buildings littering the street. Suddenly Hope perked up and pointed across my body at a large brick building while screaming at the top of her lungs, "OH MY GOD! They got Pizza Hut here! Pizza Hut!"

We didn't even have a Pizza Hut in Northon, just a local pizzeria called Mama Mia's so coming across Pizza Hut in a small town was exciting, or at least it was to Hope. That girl loved pizza; could eat it every single day too. I knew since we were best friends and her family's financial situation was better than mine that she'd be coming to Charming to visit me a lot; that's why she was over the moon about a pizza chain being in town.

"You'll have to visit me just for the pizza." I told my friend as she continued to look around Main Street as we drove.

"Hell yea." She nodded and giggled.

We came across a traffic light that had just turned red. While stopped, waiting for the light to turn green, a cop car with Charming PD written on the side pulled up next to us. The cop in the car was young and had dark hair. I noticed that the cop rolled down his window. Great, he wants to talk at the red light.

"I'm deputy Hale. I've never seen you before, new around here?" The cop cheerfully asked, his head hanging halfway out of the window so that he could talk to us.

"Yea, she's moving in with her Uncle and I'm just along for the ride." Hope told him, knowing that I wasn't going to talk since I didn't like cops.

A smile lit up the cop's face as he looked right by Hope and towards me. "Really? Maybe I know him, what's his name?"

"Clay Morrow." I deadpanned, not even bothering to put on a fake cheery accent, before Hope could answer the talkative young cop.

"Morrow!" The cop exclaimed with disbelief in his voice before going on to bitterly remark, "Yea, I know Clay." Obviously, this cop didn't like Clay. Well good cause I already wasn't liking this cop.

"Oh, can we ask you where-" Hope started to ask the cop for directions before getting cut off by him.

"I can tell you where to go." The cop interrupted Hope. "SAMCRO's corner is the next left turn coming up." He told us, putting an emphasis on SAMCRO's.

Before Hope could say anything back to him the light turned green. I pressed on the gas and drove off, eager to find my upcoming turn. As I made my turn I was asked by Hope, "What's SAMCRO's corner?"

"Hell if I know, but apparently I'm going to be living in it."

* * *

We ended up turning onto a street in a nice development that had all of these two-story houses on it. I pulled up to the curb of the address that Gemma gave me. The house was pretty big and a black Cadillac Escalade was in the driveway. "Nice house." I heard Hope tell me as we unclicked our seat belts.

"Yea, it is." I agreed with her as we grabbed our purses and started to get out of the car.

As we started to make our way up the driveway, the front door opened and out stepped Gemma. She had dark hair with chunky blonde streaks in it and her dark eyeliner made her eye makeup pop. She wasn't what I was expecting since she didn't look like the typical middle-aged woman I was used to seeing back home in Ohio. Hell, she didn't dress like one either. She looked like she raided Forever 21 since her style was young, edgy, and trendy with a lot of bling, leather, and tight formfitting things.

"Baby, you're here." Gemma said as me and Hope reached her at the front door.

"Yea, I'm here." I said with a smile.

She pointed her finger at Hope while dryly asking, "Who's that, another pound puppy?"

"Pound puppy?" Hope asked with a sudden sour look on her usually cheerful face.

"This is Hope, my best friend." I told Gemma, who just nodded her head while raising an eyebrow. "She just rode with me so that I would be safe on the long drive." I explained further, expanding on why Hope was with me.

Gemma nodded her head before opening her mouth to ask, "Didn't your daddy send you off with a gun, or did the bastard get soft in his drunken old age?"

"Um, yea, he gave me a gun." I answered with a nod.

"Good, every young lady needs a gun." Gemma told me before motioning towards the handbag on my shoulder. "Give that to me and I'll bring it inside to your room while you unload your car."

"Okay." I said before handing her my hobo bag.

"Baby, we need to get you a better bag." She said as she held my bag in her French-manicured hand, inspecting it. "Maybe Coach." She said with what looked to be a slight smirk.

"I want a Coach bag too!" Hope blurted out, causing me to elbow her in the ribs. "What? If Coach bags are being handed out, I'm just saying put me on the list for one…"

Gemma cut eyes at Hope before saying, "If you prove loyal to my family maybe you'll get a Coach bag for Christmas." Loyal? What the fuck is she talking about?

Hope's eyes light up, ironically, like a Christmas tree. "I'll be loyal; I've been Austi's best friend since elementary school."

"Good." Gemma smiled before saying, "I'll wake up Jax and send him out here to help you. It's 3 in the goddamn afternoon and he's still sleeping off last night's bender."

"Jax?" Both me and Hope asked at the same time.

"My shithead son, but don't worry you're not related. His dad was my first husband, John Teller." Gemma explained to us. Okay, so guess I know who Jax is now.

"Okay, um we'll go start unpacking my car." I simply told Gemma before turning around and dragging Hope with me.

* * *

My trunk was open and I was standing next to Hope trying to get her to help me drag a box out of my trunk. Of course, she didn't want to because it might make her break a nail. "Seriously, I can't pull these boxes out by myself." I told Hope, my arms crossed over my chest.

"But those boxes are sardined in there; I'll break my nails." Really? Really, she's more worried about her cat claw nails then helping me. Upon seeing my pointed look, she defended herself with a squeak of, "Hey, I just got them done the night before we left."

I was about to say something to Hope, but it died on my tongue whenever I heard a groggy, tired, drawl of a man's voice behind me say, "My mom wanted me to help you."

I turned around only to see Jax. His blonde hair was long and brushed his shoulders. He was wearing a wrinkled white t-shirt that said SONS on it. Yea, he looked like a typical guy except that the stench of whiskey was emitting off of him. I know what whiskey smells like too since it's my dad's beverage of choice. I noticed that Jax also had a tattoo on his forearm. It was a memorial to his late father, John. He looked hungover and half-drunk; a bit high too since his blue eyes were bloodshot and glassy. Was he really sleeping or was he just drinking, getting high, and passing out all day long? My money's on the latter.

"Yea, I'm Austi. I'm gonna be staying here now." I told him with a small smile.

Jax nodded his head before going on to say, "I know, my mom told me."

Oh, good god, fuck, he smelled kinda funky. When was the last time he had a shower? Gemma mentioned him sleeping off last night's bender. Shit his bender wasn't just from last night, he smelled and looked too rough for it to only be a onetime thing. The smell of liquor, weed, and nasty sex radiated off of him. It wasn't a light smell either, no he smelled like he had been rolling around in a pig pen full of cheap whiskey, strong weed, and sex for days on end.

"Eww! What's that smell?" Hope asked while frantically looking around, trying to spot where the smell was coming from. She figured it out as she screamed while pointing at Jax, "It's him!" Suddenly Hope jumped back, accidently bumping into Jax and making him bump into me, causing me to stumble into my open trunk and him to nearly fall on me. Hope started to walk up the driveway towards the house, but not before telling me, "Have Lazurus help you with the unpacking. I'm going inside to ask Gemma where she bought those Jimmy Choo's cause I just got to have them."

"Why'd you bring her for?" Jax asked while helping me stand up straight since I was kind half-way sitting on the boxes in my trunk.

"She's my best friend." I answered Jax before turning to look at my packed trunk. "Plus, she was afraid I'd get kidnapped or raped traveling alone."

"Yea, you both could've gotten kidnaped or some shit." Jax told me, grabbing a box out of my trunk. "Your dad should've come with you. He's stupid letting you drive in the middle of Mayans territory alone. It's dangerous."

"My dad doesn't travel, he's lucky if he even goes to Columbus and that's 50 miles away." I told Jax as I lifted a box out my trunk. "Besides he did give me a gun, and I wasn't alone. I had Hope with me."

"Wow, he gave you a gun and sent Whacked Haired Barbie with you. That makes traveling thru enemy turf so much safer." Jax said sarcastically as we walked towards the house.

"Enemy turf? So, Mayans are enemies?" I asked since I had no clue what he was talking about.

Jax shook his head and sighed, "You got a lot to learn about club life."

"Club life?" I asked him as we made it to the front door.

"Yea, SAMCRO." He nodded, walking into the house. He tilted his head towards a leather vest hanging on a wall hook near the door. "That's my cut for the MC." He told me as I looked at the cut. It had a grim reaper holding in one hand a rifle with a curled blade on it and in the other a ball with the anarchy A on it. The words Sons of Anarchy MC California framed the top and bottom of the reaper. "SAMCRO is what the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original is called. My dad founded it with some of his Vietnam War buddies. Clay and Case were co-founders." Jax explained to me as we walked towards where the stairway was.

Following him upstairs, I asked, "Okay, so this is a biker family?"

"Yea, but you're family cause you're in with the club not just because of blood. The Sons are brothers and everyone linked to them is family."

"Yea…okay…gotcha." I told him as he led us to my new room. "So, I'm guessing the cop Hope tried to get directions from isn't a part of the club family. Told us what turn to take for SAMCRO's corner before Hope could even name the street we needed to find."

"Only cop that is in with us is Unser. He's the police chief, grew up here in Charming with my mom." Jax told me, opening the door to my room (that looked like a white generic guestroom). "I think the cop you talked to was Hale. I went to school with him; he's a new deputy that thinks he's Captain America." Jax told me as we walked inside my room and set my boxes down.

"Okay. So, the only biker friendly cop is Unser, Hale thinks he's Captain America and doesn't like bikers, and I moved to the bikers' part of town. Anything else I need to know?"

"Not really." He shook his head. "Ask Gemma more about a woman's role in the club, not me. I'm a member, not the handbook for how to become a good Old Lady." He snapped as he walked out of my room with me hot on his heels.

Oh, yea I was going to get along just peachy with Mr. Half Drunk Fucktard. God, why was he like this. He looked like a nice golden blonde Adonis til he opened up his sarcastic mouth.

* * *

"You jackass, you just dropped that box on the floor!" I yelled at Jax while Hope sat Indian style on my bed laughing at me yelling at Jax for dropping my last box a bit too roughly on the floor.

Jax rolled his eyes. "I didn't drop it, stop bitching."

Hope shook her head while telling Jax, "No, you dropped it, Mr. Lazurus."

"Everything all moved in, baby?" Gemma asked as she suddenly stood in my open doorway.

"Yea, that was the last of her shit, mom." Jax answered Gemma before I got the chance to.

"Good, well I'm going to the club." Gemma informed us. Looking right at me, she said (well nicely ordered), "Austi take Jax to the club, he needs to get his bike."

"Mom, I don't need her to take me." Jax told his mother, objecting to the idea of getting a ride from me.

Gemma's nostrils flared and her head snapped as she shot Jax a dangerous look. "Yes, you do. I have errands to run before going to the club. Plus, Clay's there and she needs to see him."

"But mom-" Jax began to protest until Mama Gemma cut him off with a bark of, "Shut up and go to the club with her." Gemma gave him a firm look and left the room, her heels clinking and echoing down the hall with every step she took.

Jax wordlessly stormed out of the room, about to throw a temper tantrum. Great, now I'm stuck playing taxi driver to Jax and his piss poor attitude. Why is he like this? Something has to be going on with him to be half-drunk, half-high, and moody. At least I hope there's a reason for the attitude and it's not his usual persona otherwise I'm screwed.

"I don't want to take him to the club." Hope told me as we walked out of my room. "Why can't he go with Gemma?" She asked as we walked downstairs.

"Cause she already left." I told her the logical reason why we were stuck being a taxi for Jax.

"Fine…" Hope sighed as we walked out of the house. "Shotgun!" She shouted as she saw Jax, who was wearing his cut and already at my car, open up the passenger side door.

"No, you're in the back!" Jax shouted at Hope as he sat his ass down in the front seat.

Hope ran up to my red Ford Focus and yanked open the front passenger's side door while telling Jax, "But I don't sit in the back, Lazurus."

"You do now." Jax smirked, grabbing the car door and shutting it.

"I'm the best friend, I ride shotgun." Hope informed Jax, causing him to lock the door. "Open up and get out!" Hope demanded in a squeaky shout.

Jax laughed and flipped her the finger.

"Will both of you just shut up so we can go to the club." I snapped as I got to my side of the car, opened my door, and got in.

"Fine, but I'm sitting in the middle of the backseat." Hope said as she got into the backseat of the car, pouting.

After we were all settled in the car I pulled away from the house and drove down the street. Hope, being the little troll she was, took her perfume out of her bag and started to spray it on Jax, who was sulking in the seat next to me.

Suddenly his head spun around and he looked at Hope. While waving his hand in the air, trying to make the girly smell of the perfume go away, he asked, "What're you doing?"

Continuing to spray him, Hope said, "Making you smell like Britney Spears perfume instead of like skanky skunk."

"Stop spraying that shit on me." Jax tried to snatch the perfume away from Hope.

"This car has no air and I'm not getting sick from smelling your skanky skunk ass." Hope told Jax as she continued to torment him with her perfume.

"I don't smell like skanky skunk." Jax declared with a pissed off edge to his voice as he finally snatched the perfume bottle out of Hope's hand, tossing it out of his window.

"Hey! That was a new bottle!" Hope exclaimed as she smacked Jax on the shoulder repeatedly.

Jax's response to Hope overreacting over her perfume was what I'd honestly expect from a biker. He grabbed her hand and threatened, "Hit me again and I'll snap your hand off."

Hope's face paled for a second before she took her hand away from the blonde biker and sat back in her seat. She didn't say a word, just gave me a look that screamed 'Can you believe this guy?'. Jax wasn't bothered by what he did. Nope, he just casually pulled a pack of cigs from his cut pocket as if he didn't just threaten my best friend. Dear lord, I always heard that bikers were tough, but Jesus…

"Oh, I want one." Hope quietly muttered as she noticed that Jax now had a cig in his mouth, getting ready to light up.

Quickly I grabbed my pack of reds and tossed it at her in the back seat. "Bum one of mine." I told her as she opened up my pack. God, she needs to get out of her casual smoker denial and just start buying her own packs.

"There's only one left…" Hope trailed off as she lit her cig and tossed the empty pack up front.

The empty pack hit my windshield and landed on my dash haphazardly. Great, now I'm surrounded by the addicting smell of tobacco and I can't smoke. This sucks balls, monkey balls. I bit my lip, my mouth watering for a cig, as I heard Thunderstruck by ACDC begin to play on the radio. Suddenly I felt something nudge my arm. I looked to see Jax tapping my arm with his cigarette pack, offering me one.

"Thanks." I told him as I took the pack from him. He just nodded his head and turned up my radio, most likely wishing that Hope would go way. I could tell that they were getting on each other's' nerves. I quickly lit my cig and then handed him the pack back, which he just shoved in his cut pocket.

"You need to get the air fixed. I'm dying back here." Hope suddenly blurted out over the loud sound of ACDC music filling the car.

Before I could respond to Hope, Jax snarked, "Good, die faster back there.

"How rude." Hope huffed out, reminding me of JarJar from the Star Wars prequels with how she said it.

The ACDC song ended and then the jiggy piano playing that marked the start of Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Lights blared from the radio. This song drove Hope nuts and every time it came on the radio she would change the station. She's stuck in the middle of the backseat, out of reach to the radio buttons. I saw her fling her half-smoked cigarette out of the window and I knew that shit was about to get real.

"Shit, what're you doing?" Jax asked Hope as she frantically tried to reach the radio, attempting to lunge between me and him.

"Trying to turn off Meatloaf, I hate this song." Hope told him while she struggled to reach the radio.

Jax used his arm to block Hope from successfully reaching the radio. Pointing his cig at the radio, he asked me, "Do you like this song?"

You either love or hate Meatloaf's music, no in-betweens, and I grew up listening to Meatloaf all the time with my dad. "Yea, I do." I told him, flicking ashes out of my window.

"Good." He smirked, turning the volume up on the radio with the hand that was holding his cig while his other arm continued to block Hope from reaching the front seat.

"No!" Hope shouted dramatically as Meatloaf's voice began singing.

God, this ride's such a shit show. I can't get to the club house fast enough.

* * *

**AN:**

**Next up is Austi being reunited with Uncle Clay and meeting some of the guys. She'll also be attending her first club party. **


	5. At The Club

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for the follows, favs, and reviews. **

**Wow, double update in one day! Yea, this chapter didn't need too much editing so…**

* * *

**At The Club**

**Austi POV:**

After about 8 minutes or so of driving we made it to the clubhouse. The clubhouse was a large grungy building right next to the auto repair shop; a large wrought iron gate surrounded the lot. It reminded me a bit of a mob compound from The Godfather or the Sopranos. The clubhouse had a large reaper (the one that's on the back of Jax's cut) painted on it along with the Words Sons Of Anarchy Men Of Mayham. A group of shiny black Harleys were lined up in a neat row, parked right in front of the clubhouse.

"Why is there a biker bar next to your uncle's garage?" Hope asked as I pulled into an open space that was across from all of the bikes on the large lot.

"My uncle's in the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original." I answered Hope as I cut off my engine and reached over to grab my bag that was on the floor next to Jax's leg.

"Clay's not just in it, he's the president." Jax informed us we got out of the car. He revealed his position in the club to us as we walked across the lot towards the clubhouse, "I'm vice president now since Piney's got the oxygen tank."

Some girls, who wore outfits so skimpy they would make my old cheer practice outfits of sports bras and short-shorts look modest, were sitting on one of the picnic tables out in front of the clubhouse. They were smoking and shooting daggers at me. Oh, if looks could kill I'd be dead at least twice over by now. Jax noticed that the girls were giving me dirty looks too. "Don't mind those croweaters, they're just afraid that you'll be competition when it comes to getting a Son and becoming an old lady." He told me as we walked by the croweaters.

"Oh, okay." I told Jax as we reached the door to the club. He was nice enough to open the door for us too.

Before walking by me and into the club, Hope hissed in my ear, "Now we know why he smells, he's been with those skanky croweaters." Of course, my bestie picked up on that…

"Austi, keep your friend the fuck away from me. I don't hit women, but I'll hit that crazy bitch." Jax told me as we walked into the club.

"Fine, but she'll be going back to Ohio tomorrow or the next day anyways." I told Jax as I spotted Hope standing in front of a large wall with framed mugshots on it.

"Good. So why are you friends with her? She's annoying." He asked me while we stood by the doorway. The few people in the club didn't seem to pay us any mind either.

Oh so he wanted to know why Hope's my best friend. Yea, I guess anybody would be confused about us being friends. Hope's bubbly and spoiled while I'm more, for a lack of a better word, jaded and far from spoiled. Hope's into fashion and I'm not, I wear what I feel like and don't care if it's in or not. We're polar opposites, but our friendship works. We balance each other out, she makes sure I don't drown in life's seriousness and I make sure that she doesn't let her head float off too far in the clouds.

Our friendship had an odd start. I was 9 and in Mrs. Pigeon's 3rd grade class. This one bratty bully girl, Allison Jilson, had hated me since I moved to town mid-kindergarten. Every single year I was stuck in her class. Out of 2 teachers for each grade me and this little brat always got assigned the same teacher. Anyways, one day while on the playground (that was practically in the middle of the woods that surrounded the elementary school) Alison came up to me with her little group of bully girl cronies and called me some names. Then Alison hit me a few times with a stick so I shoved her hard, making her fly into the tree that was next to her. Her face got all scraped up since the tree was icy from the cold winter weather. Sucked to be Alison that day since my dad always told me that if you're big enough to hit you're big enough to get hit back and I just listen to his sage advice. Anyways after the Alison tree incident Hope was the only girl that was brave enough to be my friend. All the other girls in class steered clear of me.

"She was the only girl to go near me after I shoved a girl, who hit me with a stick, into a tree in the 3rd grade." I honestly told Jax as I noticed Hope walking away from the mugshot wall and towards a table to sit down at.

"Damn, you really are related to Clay." Jax shook his head and smiled, laughing a bit. "Clay's over there with Tig." Jax told me, pointing out two men sitting at the bar. One man had wild wiry black hair and was thin while the other man was broad with short graying hair and an ape-like face. "You should go talk to them." Jax told me before he walked away from me and rounded a corner to go down a hallway.

I walked over to the table that Hope was at and told her, "I'm going to go say hi to my Uncle Clay. Try not to piss off the bikers."

"I'm not pissing off the bikers, only one and he was already pissy before he met me." Hope shrugged while I placed my bag on the table for her to watch.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes at her while she looked around the club, sitting comfortably at the table close to the bar. "Clay's at the bar." I informed my friend while gesturing to the bar with a slight nod of my head.

"What one is he?"

"The one with President on his cut." I told Hope before walking away from her table and going up to the bar where Clay and Tig were at. Clay was the one with short gray hair smoking a cigar and Tig was the one with wiry dark hair. "Hi, Uncle Clay." I said, causing both men to turn around and look at me.

Clay gave me a small smile. "Austi, good to see you made it safe."

"I remember when you were a tiny-tot, now you're grown with a nice set of tits and ass." Tig told me, giving me a once over paired with a large grin.

Oh, Tig was going to be an oddball. I can already tell. Fucking perv…

"Tig, that's my niece, knock it off." Clay snapped, clearly not amused at Tig's tit and ass comment about me.

Tig just shrugged before asking me, "Got any friends?"

"Um, yea, at that table over there." I told Tig, pointing to where Hope was at.

Hope noticed me pointing at her so she just waved at both Clay and Tig while saying, "Hi, I'm Hope, the best friend." Instead of just leaving it at that she had to add, "Nice clubhouse you got, it's a lot nicer then the biker bars you see in movies."

Clay just looked at Hope, took a puff from his cigar, and said, "Thanks kid, but tell Gemma that. She takes care of the place."

Tig's eyes lit up with excitement. "Ooo, I like her."

"She has a boyfriend named Brad, sorry." I patted Tig on the shoulder.

"Brad here?" Tig asked, clearly not taking the hint.

"No." I answered with the shake of my head.

Before Tig could say anything else about Brad or Hope, Clay decided to inquire about my trip. "You have a good ride here? No problems?"

I shook my head, "No problems, everything was fine."

Taking a puff off his cigar, my uncle simply said, "Good to hear."

"I better get back to Hope." I told my uncle as an out so I could leave. What? I didn't know what to talk to him about and I had the sense that the feeling was mutual.

Clay just nodded and told me, "Get some beers from the prospect for you and your friend."

Wait a minute, my uncle's encouraging underage drinking? "We're not 21 yet, just 18. Isn't there laws about serving booze to underage people?"

"Nobody's gonna turn you in here." Clay assured me, smoking his cigar. "Prospect, get a couple of beers for my niece and her friend." Clay told the man that was behind the bar playing bartender.

The guy behind the bar was tan with a black Mohawk. He also had tribal tattoos on his head. Why would somebody get a tattoo on their head? Wouldn't that be painful? "I'm Juice." The man in the cut labeled prospect told me as he set down a couple bottles of beer on the bar.

"I'm Austi, nice to meet you." I told Juice while grabbing the bottles off of the bar.

As departed from the bar I heard Juice tell Tig, "Don't try to flirt with his niece, it's not professional."

"Forget the niece, I like the friend." Tig bluntly told the prospect as I walked further away from the bar in order to make it back to Hope's table.

* * *

I was sitting at the table with Hope drinking my beer whenever she suddenly pointed her beer bottle at something. "You know your dad's mugshot's on the hall of fame over there." She informed me, causing me to look at where she was pointing. "He's got bad 80's hair in it too. Go check it out."

I shook my head as I stood up and walked over to the mugshot wall. On the wall were the framed mug shots of all the SAMCRO members, past and present. I saw a mug shot for Jax and I saw one for his dad, John Teller. Jax favored his dad, only difference was that he was blonde and his dad wasn't. I also saw Clay's mugshot and Tig's. I saw a mugshot for a man that looked like the cowardly lion from the Wizard of Oz and another one of a guy that had scars on his cheeks, like The Joker from Batman. Juice, even tho he was a prospect, had a mugshot on the wall too. Hell, I saw mugshots for so many men, but the one that made my eyes widen was my dad's. He was younger with a long fluffy dark blonde mullet, but it was him without a doubt.

It was shocking to see that my dad had a mugshot framed and on a wall. I mean he drives 5 under the speed limit. He's just a quiet paranoid drunk or at least I thought he was. Clearly, he was involved in some shit before he moved us to Ohio. What exactly that shit was I didn't know, but I have a feeling I might just find out.

I walked back to the table and sat down next to Hope. "You were right about my dad's hair. That was some big, bad, 80's mullet."

"What'd you think he got arrested for?"

"Dunno, obviously it was biker shit." I told Hope while noticing Jax walk into the main room, freshly showered. His hair was wet and his plain white t-shirt was clean and wrinkle free.

"Look, Lazurus emerges among the living. He looks clean now." Hope remarked, noticing that Jax had cleaned up, as she sipped on her beer.

"Guess you spraying him with your perfume made him go clean up." I told Hope as Jax walked right over to the bar.

"Pretty perfume makes him clean up, but not smelling like the undead? Nice." Hope sarcastically remarked as we watched Jax get a beer from the prospect, Juice.

"Don't go near Jax, he doesn't like you and thinks you're annoying." I told Hope, not wanting any drama to break out in the clubhouse.

"Fine with me, he ain't my type anyways." Hope told me before taking a sip of her beer. "Plus I got Brad."

Jax walked away from the bar, beer in his hand, and motioned with his head for me to follow him.

"I'm gonna see what Jax wants." I told Hope as I got up from the table. She just nodded her head and looked around while I took off to follow Jax.

Whenever I reached him, he was sitting down at a table with Piney. I knew the old man was Piney since he had a portable oxygen tank with him. "Hey." I said as I sat down next to Jax and across from Piney.

"Piney, this is Austi." Jax pointed his beer bottle at me. "Austi, that's my friend Opie's dad Piney." Jax told me before taking a large drag of his beer.

"You look like Case." Piney told me, pouring himself a shot from his bottle of Patron.

"I hope so, he's my dad." I said with a small smirk and slight laugh. Everyone always told me that I was the spitting image of my dad. I heard it all the time growing up. All the 'you got your dad's nose' and 'you got your dad's hair' or 'you got your dad's eyes' got old after a while.

"Talk about Hope, she's not going to be annoying me is she?" Jax asked, checking that I told my friend to leave him alone.

"No." I told Jax, watching Tig run over to Hope and sit down next to her. "Besides I think she made a new friend."

"Who?" Jax asked, taking a drink from his beer bottle.

"Tig." I said, pointing to the table where Hope was sitting at with Tig as he talked to her. "He likes her."

Jax rolled his eyes. "He would."

"Who is she?" Piney asked, pouring himself another drink.

"Austi's crazy bitch friend." Jax told Piney before I could nicely call hope my best friend.

"She's not that bad once you get to know her." I sighed at Jax. I wasn't bullshitting him, she wasn't that bad once you got to know her and got used to her diva attitude. She was a good friend.

"Yea, well, I don't want to fucking know her. She sprayed perfume on me." Jax said, still butthurt over getting sprayed with perfume. To Hope's defense he was a bit smelly from his bender the night before. I get where Jax is coming from, he's a man that doesn't want to smell girly. Hmm, wonder if he's an Old Spice man.

"Sounds like a nice girl." Piney remarked, I think he was being sarcastic though. "You seem to attract crazy." Piney told Jax before going on to say, "Tara came in here before leaving for Chicago and yanked a croweater's hair out by the roots and tossed her off of your lap. You weren't together anymore; she was leaving, but she went after that crow eater like she owned you. Like it or not crazy finds you."

Jax's body language changed, his shoulders slummed, and the light left his blue eyes. Whoever Tara was her leaving did a number on him. Jax placed his half empty bottle of Budweiser on the table and reached for Piney's Patron bottle, but the old man snatched it away quickly.

"No, this is mine, you go get your own bottle. You'll drink mine all up and I won't have none." Piney told Jax as he cradled his Patron.

Jax just responded by rolling his eyes and storming off towards the bar. Well, looks like I have an idea of why Jax goes on benders. This Tara chick left; hurt him.

* * *

"Tig, I got Brad back in Ohio and you're old enough to be my dad, stop looking at me like you want to do dirty things." I heard Hope tell Tig as I sat down at their table.

"Too bad you don't have a daddy kink. I really liked you." Tig smirked before getting up and leaving the table.

"You weren't with Jax and that old guy very long, what happened?" Hope asked me, wanting to know why I was with Piney and Jax for only a couple of minutes before coming back to our table.

"Piney, the old guy, brought up a girl and it made Jax run to the bar for a bottle of Jack."

"Oh." Hope said as I noticed the club door open. In walked both the big lion looking man and the lean man with the facial scars. They both rolled their eyes as they spotted Jax getting shitfaced at the bar by himself (since both Tig and Clay weren't at the bar anymore).

"Yep, he's drinking alone at the bar now." I told Hope, slightly pointing to Jax at the bar.

"Only losers drink alone." Hope said as I noticed the lion man and the scarred man making their way to our table.

"Austi, you still like blueberry-banana cinnamon muffins?" The large man with the lion mane hair asked me as he sat down at the table next to me.

"Yea..." I said, my eyes furrowing, as I looked at the man who was sitting next to me.

"Who're you and how'd you know who she is?" Hope asked, looking the man over a bit skeptically.

"I'm Bobby; I know her dad." The lion man told us before going on to tell me, "You look just like Case, got his nose."

"Yea, everyone says that." I sighed, but smiled nicely even though I was sick of hearing that I looked like my dad.

"Lass, I'm Chibs." The scarred man introduced himself while standing by me. "It's nice to meet ye lass, but I'm going to go check on our Jackie Boy." Chibs, who had a brogue accent that was Irish or Scottish, nicely told me before going off to join Jax at the bar.

* * *

**Case's POV**

It was getting late, the 11 o'clock news was going to come on soon, and I haven't heard from my daughter yet. Austi was supposed to call as soon as she got to Charming; she had to be there by now. I was worried. My wife, Bianca, was sitting on the sofa by my chair watching Dateline. Whenever the commercial came on, she looked at me and said, "Worrying isn't going to make the phone ring."

"It's nearly 11 here, 9 out there, she should've called by now. I'm her dad; it's my job to worry." I told my wife as I began to rock in my recliner.

"She's fine; she's probably just unpacking or something."

"It doesn't take this long to unpack. She should've called me hours ago."

Bianco just rolled her eyes at me. "She's 18 not 6, let her grow up and stop worrying so much."

I stopped rocking in my chair and I looked at my wife. "I know how old my kid is, Bianca, and I am letting her grow up. Why do you think I let her go to Charming even after what happened out there with my first wife? I know she's 18, an adult now, and I can't stop her from doing what she wants to do."

"You need to get over what happened 13 years ago." Bianca sighed as she toyed with the ribbon on her satin night shirt.

"Don't tell me to just get over it. You'll never know half of the shit I did or saw or been through. All you know is that I was in a motorcycle club that got violent and my wife died in an accident. You don't know the danger that can surround a club." Bianca just didn't get it. She just didn't understand why my stomach was churning every minute I didn't hear from my daughter. She should've called. What if something happened.

"If it's so dangerous then why did you let Austi go to Charming?" She had the audacity to ask. Seriously, like she didn't know the answer already.

"Why did I let her?" I growled at my wife as I shot up from my chair. "I didn't let her, you kicked her out and bitched that it was time for her to grow up and leave." I told Bianca, walking right in front of the tv so that she would have to look at me. "You fought with me all night before she left saying that you couldn't handle her lazy disrespectful ass in your house anymore. Don't act like I wanted her to go, I didn't." I snapped, blocking my wife's view of the late night news that was just coming on.

"If it was up to you Augusta would live with us until she was 40." Bianca snarled at me. "If you're so worried then call her, I'm going to bed." Bianca told me right before getting off of the couch and walking out of the living room.

I'd give Austi another half hour; then I'm calling her if I don't hear from her.

* * *

**Austi's POV**

When Gemma had arrived to the club after running her errands she came back with a bunch of food (like chips and party platters) since she decided to throw an impromptu welcome home party for me. It was nice of her to do since I wasn't expecting it.

The party officially started once sundown hit. A bonfire was lit outside on the lot and a bunch of people crowded into the clubhouse along with the lot the clubhouse was on. I've never seen so many skimpily dressed women in my life. Damn, Jax wasn't lying before when he told me that crow eaters wanted to become old ladies. The crow eaters were running after the SAMCRO guys like flies on shit.

I was sitting at a table with Gemma and Hope as the party raged on around us. We were talking, well mostly Gemma was asking me questions about myself and Hope was just putting in her 2 cents whenever she felt like it.

Gemma took a sip of her drink before asking me, "Do you want to go to college?"

"I was going to sign up at the community college back in Ohio, but I came here before I could." I answered, snubbing my cigarette into the ashtray before grabbing my beer bottle.

"What were you going to study, baby?" Gemma pried with an interested look shining in her eyes.

"Nursing." I answered after taking a sip from my beer bottle. It was either nursing or business that I was debating on, but in the end, I picked nursing. It's more solid, something I know I'll have a good chance at getting hired as.

"Nursing, how boring." Hope blurted out. She played with the end of her hair while telling Gemma, "I got accepted to Paul Mitchell's cosmetology school in Columbus."

"Good for you, maybe you can learn how to put on some hair extensions." Gemma said as she blew smoke out of her nose. Looking at me, she said, "Baby, I think nursing will be a great thing to study. You let me know when you want to sign up and I'll give you a check for the bill.", while snubbing her used up cig in the ashtray that was in the middle of the table.

She wanted to hand me over a blank check for my tuition. Really? "Really, you'd do that for me?"

"Of course, we're family." Gemma smiled at me. She patted my hand while telling me, "The club'll be proud to have you as a nurse."

Suddenly Gemma's eyes narrowed and she grabbed a cig from her pack. I looked at the direction she had her eyes narrowed on and saw a bleach-blonde with jet black roots in leather booty shorts and a leopard print bra drag Jax away from the bar.

"Goddamnit, he'll be fucked up again tomorrow." Gemma bitched as she held her pack towards me and Hope, offering us some cigarettes, while watching her son get shoved into a chair by the blonde croweater.

"Yea…" I said as I took a cig and the lighter from Gemma while watching the crow eater straddle Jax and start to grind on him.

"Damn, he's gonna get fucked up bad." Hope said, taking a cig from the pack and waiting for me to hand her over the lighter, while the crow eater lap dancing on Jax snatched the bottle of whiskey from his hand and started to pour it down his throat.

Shit, Jax could be a party animal. Getting lap dances from skanky looking chicks and having booze poured down his mouth, no wonder he was sleeping in til 3 in the afternoon today. Whatever floats his boat.

I took a drag off my freshly lit cig and gave Hope the lighter so that she could light hers. Gemma took a drag from her cigarette before going on to say, "It's all that little snobby wannabe doctor's fault. That gash was always hot and cold with my son, one day she begs him to give her his crow and-"

"His crow?" Both me and Hope interrupted.

"A tattoo a Son's old lady gets. It's of a crow and it shows that you're dedicated to your man and to the club life." Gemma explained to us.

Okay, so I better not come home with a crow tattoo unless I want to be a proud old lady. Check. Not like I'd just go out and get a big crow tattoo anyways. I mean I'm not against tattoos. I got a small tattoo on my hipbone of shooting stars. Hope has it too; it's a best friend matching tattoo thing.

"So this gash wanted the crow, then what?" Hope asked as she handed Gemma back her lighter, eager to hear more about the wannabe doctor who I was starting to figure out was Tara from what little I heard from Piney earlier.

"My son took her to get the crow. Tara, that no good gash, had it put on her back as a tramp stamp. Hidden as her dirty little secret instead of showing it off proudly." Gemma shook her head while flicking some ashes into the ashtray on the table.

Bingo, I knew this gash was Tara. I just knew it.

"The snobby gash told my son she loved him and wanted to marry him, but you know what she did?" Gemma asked us, rhetorically I think.

"No, what'd the little snobby gash do?" Hope asked, feeding into Gemma's rant.

Gemma took a long drag off her cig before telling us, "She applies to a college in Chicago to use some bullshit scholarship on and doesn't even tell Jax til a few weeks before she's going to go. She tells him that he has to go with her and she knew he just patched into the club with Opie."

"Oh, guess they broke up since he's still here." I said at same time Hope blurted out, "No, how dare she try to steal him from the club."

I don't know if Gemma picked up on Hope being a smart ass or not but she just told us, "Tara broke my son. He's too much like his father; he gets melancholy and drowns his sorrows in pussy, weed, and booze." Gemma took a drag from her cig before telling us, "He was just getting over the gash when Opie went up to Chino; now Jax is back to being a little drunk man slut."

"Damn that Tara, it's all her fault my perfume got tossed out the window." Hope remarked, still upset over the perfume incident.

Gemma just raised her brow with a questioning look. I sighed and explained, "Jax smelled so Hope sprayed him with her perfume and it pissed him off so he grabbed it from her and threw it out the window."

Gemma smirked at Hope and told her, "You got some brass tits, spraying my son with perfume."

"Damn straight I do." Hope said as she nodded her head, proud of herself.

Suddenly my phone started to ring in my bag that was tossed on my chair. I stood up and grabbed my bag while telling both Gemma and Hope, "I better go outside and answer this.

_***A Few Minutes Later…***_

I held my cell phone up to my ear as I sat on an empty picnic table outside. I had just answered it and it was my dad, he wasn't happy with me either.

"_Why didn't you call? You got any idea what time it is?" _My dad yelled at me in a tired, but worried and panicked voice.

"Dad, I was busy, I'm sorry." I honestly told my dad while looking at the glow coming from the bonfire nearby.

"_Busy doing what? You promised you'd call as soon as you got there and you didn't!" _My dad yelled, his panicked state of mind not easing one bit.

"Dad, calm down. I had to move my stuff into the house and then take Jax to the clubhouse."

"_You took who to what?!"_

Okay, now is not the time to act dumb with me. I sighed before snapping, "I took Jax Teller, and I know you know who the fuck he is, to the SAMCRO clubhouse, and I know you know where and what that shit is too."

"_You can't be going there and hanging around with that boy. He's on a path to be a criminal, if he ain't one already, and that clubhouse is not the place for you." _My dad lectured me in a know-it-all type of tone. Oh god…

Oh, that's rich coming from my dad, who I just found out today basically is a criminal. "Like you're not a criminal? I saw your mugshot on the wall dad. Hell, and you gave me the riot act when I got booked for truancy; I'm pretty sure you got locked up for worse than skipping school on a snowy day."

"_I did things with SAMCRO when I was younger that I'm not proud of. I never wanted you to find out that I was an outlaw biker before we moved to Ohio. I moved us to Ohio to get way from the life." _My dad told me in a soft and slow tone, like the one he used when he explained to me why he couldn't take me to Disney Land when I asked to go at 9 years old.

"If you don't want me around your biker family, that you apparently made us abandon, then why did you ship me off to them? Huh?!" I asked, blowing up with frustration, as I tapped my feet on the bench of the picnic table I was sitting on.

"_I didn't ship you off, you left."_

"Only because Bianca wanted me out of the house. You could've stopped her dad; you could've fought harder to let me stay."

"_Don't go there, Augusta, you don't know what you're talking about." _My dad told me in a low tone, the tone he used when he was getting pissed.

"Whatever, so far the Sons of Anarchy are proving to be better then you and I've only just met these people." I snapped at my dad. "You know what, dad, I'm at my welcome party so I'll call you later. Bye." I told my dad right before hanging up on him.

Damnit, how could he get mad at me for doing the only thing that I could do to ensure that I had a roof over my head and wasn't homeless? It wasn't like I willingly sought out Clay and Gemma, I needed a place to stay. Hell, the SAMCRO guys I met all seemed nice. Gemma's nice to me and wants to pay for my nursing school. Jax is just a bit messed up, but I guess he can be with losing his best friend right after his sweetheart ditched him after getting her tramp stamp crow.

Shit, why is my dad upset with me? I didn't do anything wrong. He's wrong, he didn't tell me he used to be in SAMCRO.

I was so lost in my thoughts and staring at the flickering light of the bonfire that I didn't even notice that Hope had sat next to me on the picnic table, not until she pulled me into a hug and said, "Your dad called, I can tell."

"How can you tell?" I asked as I brok up our hug.

"You're sitting on a picnic table staring at the bonfire like the Red Woman staring into the flames waiting to see a vision from the Red God." Hope told me as she handed me a brownie.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked as I took the brownie.

"That Bobby guy was handing them out. I think they're pot brownies." She told me while I just studied the brownie in my hand.

"I bring you to a biker club and now you're all corrupted, giving me pot brownies." I laughed at her before taking a bite out of the brownie. Whether it was laced with pot or not it was a kickass tasting brownie.

"It's called a MC not biker club." Hope told me with a smile. "You missed some good shit while out here talking with your dad."

"What'd I miss that was good shit?"

"Gemma pushing that lap dance girl off of Jax whenever the girl took off her bra and shoved her boobs in his face. Gemma told her and I quote 'You little croweater gash my son's got church tomorrow so go find somebody else to fuck for tonight.' and then she told Jax to go sleep it off in his dorm and when he was complaining bout how he's grown and can do what the fuck he wants Gemma told him and I quote her again, 'You ain't fucking much pussy tonight with all the Jack you guzzled, prolly got whisky dick so go sleep it off. You got church in the morning V.P.'."

"Damn." I said, not believing I missed that while outside on the phone with my dad.

"Why don't we go inside, find Gemma, tell her we're going back to the house and then find something to binge watch while eating ice cream?" Hope suggested as she got off of the picnic table.

I got off of the picnic table while telling Hope with a weak smile, "Sure, let's do that."


	6. A Week In

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for the follows, favs, and reviews. **

**Since Thanksgiving is Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving in advanced!**

* * *

**A Week In**

**Austi POV:**

About a week had passed since my move to Charming and I think I've been settling in well enough. Gemma was a good cook and let me help her out when she made food. I wasn't much of a cook, but she was willing to teach me. Clay was friendly enough; I mean he talked to me more than my own dad did. Seriously I could sit next to my dad for hours without him uttering a single word at me. Jax was nice to me whenever he was at the house, but when he was at the club he was usually too busy getting shitfaced and fucking croweaters to notice that I was alive. He usually bounced around between the house and his dorm room at the club. Basically wherever he hung his cut was his home.

The guys in the club were nice to me too. I also met Gemma's best friend Luann Delaney at SAMCRO family dinner. She was a blonde former porn star that owned and operated her own porn studio, Caracara. Luann was an old lady in the club too, her old man Otto had been locked up since the 90's.

Of course, I met some of the croweaters and sweetbutts (the young fresh girls that are on the fast track to becoming washed up hoes known as croweaters). Some of them were okay, but most of them hated me. They were civil with me, I think only because I wasn't pushing up on Jax, but I could tell that they hated me. Shit, the looks they gave me whenever I walked into the club with Gemma were cold and cutting.

Gemma had explained to me that those croweaters and sweetbutts only wanted her son so that they could become the next Queen of SAMCRO since Jax was the Prince of Charming; would inherit the gavel and take over as SAMCRO president one day. That his old lady would be something special cause he wouldn't just be president of the MC, but he'd be the head honcho and international president since SAMCRO was the mother charter. All other charter presidents would have to answer to Jax; he'd be a powerful man and therefore whoever became his old lady would be well respected. Gemma told me that her son wasn't going to make any croweater or sweetbutt his old lady and princess so they were wasting their time.

The 4th of July was coming up and by coming up I mean that it was tomorrow. Gemma had a big event planned at the clubhouse for the holiday. She even bought one of those slip and slides from a Wal-Mart in Lodi to set up on the lot for the club kids to play on. I have a feeling that the club kids won't be the only ones playing on them (cough Tig cough).

I was in the grocery store with Gemma shopping for food for tomorrow's big 4th of July party. Gemma was pushing the cart as I walked next to her. "You ever do anything back in Ohio for the 4th?" Gemma asked while placing cans of beans into the cart.

"Not really." I told Gemma as she tossed more beans into the cart. Damn how many beans does she need to buy? I know she said she wanted to make chili, but seriously how many beans can that take? "Unless getting stuck in the town parade cheering and dancing with Hope and the rest of the school's squad counts as something." I added with a shrug.

Gemma looked at me as she tossed the last can of beans into the cart. "You were a cheerleader? You don't seem like the type."

"Yea, well, it got me out of the house and gave me something to do." I told her as we started to walk down the aisle.

"You do it long?" She asked, whether due to being nosy or sincerely interested I wasn't sure. I'm leaning towards nosy but…

"Since I was like 12." Hope wanted to try out for the middle school squad so I did it too and the rest was history. Did I like it or enjoy it? No, but it kept me busy and out of the house so I didn't have to deal with my wino step-mom and my emotionally absent drunk dad. My step-sister, Asher, did Glee Club and chorus stuff to keep busy. It was what it was.

Gemma gave me a curious look before asking, "You have a jock boyfriend back there too?", in a tone that made her question sound more like a statement she just wanted confirmed.

"Yea, actually I did." I slightly laughed as we rounded the corner and left the can veggie aisle. "He was big and dumb, but hot." And a raging man whore, but Gemma didn't need to know that.

"Most jocks typically are, baby." Gemma told me as she pushed the cart towards the dry goods aisle (where the rice and noodles are kept at). "You're young, baby, but soon enough you'll get yourself a good man here in Charming." She told me as we walked down the aisle, headed towards the section where all the boxed noodles are.

Sure, if she says so. No offense, but I just want to sign up for med school. I'm not looking for anybody right now; if something happens it happens.

Gemma tossed boxes of macaroni noodles, most likely for pasta salad or mac 'n' cheese, into the cart while telling me, "And by a good man I mean a Son."

Of course she would say that. Anywho, I've only been in town for like a week, it's not the time for me to be looking for a man. "Okay." I nodded, stuffing my hands into my back pockets. "I'll keep that in mind." I added as we made our way out of the aisle.

"You better, baby, cause we only want the best for you here." Gemma told me, making sure that I knew I was expected to settle down with a Son since I was Clay's niece and not just some nobody in Charming. Yea, just like being a Teller was big in this town so was being a Morrow. Lucky me…

* * *

As soon as we walked into the clubhouse after grocery shopping Gemma started ordering the croweaters and sweetbutts to unload her Cadillac. "I'll help too." I said, offering to help the girls unload the car. Gemma just rolled her eyes at me before going off to sit down. Guess she didn't think that I should be helping unload the car. Whatever. The trunk was packed with food and helping the girls would make them hate me less, or at least I hoped so.

As I was walking towards the door with a couple bags in my hands Jax walked out of it. He made his way over to me while asking, "You on kitchen duty or can you take off for a bit?"

"I'm not on kitchen duty." I told him as we stood in front of each other in the parking lot of the club. "I was just being nice and helping the croweaters and sweetbutts unload your mom's car."

Jax took the bags from me while asking, "Since you're not on kitchen duty you want to ride out to see Donna with me?"

"Donna?" I asked Jax as we started to walk to the door together, him carrying the bags of groceries.

"She's Opie's wife, they got a little boy and girl so I was going to check up on them; invite them to the party tomorrow." Jax told me as we made it to the front door of the club. He opened up the door for us and told me as we walked in, "You both could use a friend. I thought you'd get along with her since she's not like the girls that hang around the club."

"Okay, but I'm pretty sure Piney or Gemma would've called to invite her and the kids already." I told him as we walked to the kitchen area of the clubhouse, croweaters and sweetbutts staring at us as they walked by with their own bags of groceries.

Jax placed the bags on a counter and looked at me. "She's been ignoring their calls. She's distanced herself from the club since Opie got locked up."

Oh, well then it makes sense why Jax wants to go check on her now. She's married to his best friend and she's ignoring everybody. "Okay, sure I'll ride out with you to see her."

"Good." Jax told me with a smile before walking out of the kitchen. I followed him out and over to where Gemma was sitting at on a couch, smoking. "Mom, I'm taking Austi for a ride out to Donna and Ope's." Jax informed his mother while I stood next to him

Gemma just shook her head and pointed her cigarette at Jax. "Tell her to bring the kids by tomorrow and to stop being so dumb. We're family, we want to help her out and she needs to stop fighting our help." She took a drag of her cigarette before saying, "Get some money from the safe and give it to her for those babies. Just cause she's being so goddamned dumb doesn't mean her babies should starve while she's in between food stamps."

* * *

"Ever ride a Harley before?" Jax asked as we walked outside of the clubhouse.

Oh yea like my dad would let me hop on the back of some guy's hog. My dad nearly had a stroke when Markel picked me up once on his new 4-wheeler. He lived on a few acres, not far from my dad's house, so when he got a new 4-wheeler for his 18th birthday all he wanted to do was ride it.

"No, but I've been on a 4-wheeler before." I told him as we walked over to where all the bikes were parked in a row by the building.

"Well, Darling, then you got an idea of how not to fall off when riding." Jax told me as he took the helmet off of his bike's handlebars, handing it to me.

How nice of him, he's offering me his helmet so he can split his head open if we crash and burn. Aww, how sweet he'd rather die of a cracked skull then give me one. I mean Markel never used helmets so…

I took the helmet from Jax while telling him, "What're you gonna do if we crash, die or something? Isn't wearing a helmet the main rule of biker safety?"

"I'll be fine." Jax rolled his eyes as he got onto his bike. "Just put the helmet on your head and hop on so we can go."

Silently I placed his black helmet on my head, thankfully my hair was down today so nothing got in the way of the helmet, and tightened the chin strap on it. I got on the bike behind him and rested my hands on both sides of his waist as I heard his Harley roar to life as he turned it on.

"Got to hold on tighter than that or you'll fall off." He told me over the loud rumble of the bike's engine. "You're on a real man's bike, not some pussy's 4-wheeler." Jax told me as he grabbed my hands and positioned them on his waist where he wanted them to be.

"Whatever." I said as I slightly leaned up against Jax's back, my hands still where he had placed them.

"Better hold on tight, I like to go fast, Darling." He told me as he backed the bike up out of its parking space.

"Bet you do." I told him right as he drove off the lot.

My stomach lurched in nervous excitement as we turned onto the main road.

I've never been on the back of a motorcycle before, only a 4-wheeler a few times, but so far I was enjoying it. Being on a Harley was nothing like being on a Suzuki Quad. The bike is fast and sleek while the 4-wheeler can be fast, but it's big and clumsy.

Jax was in total control of a thousand pound death machine, any wrong move and we'd be skidding off of the road to our deaths, but I trusted his riding skills. He rode fast, but was confident and seemed to know exactly what he was doing. No offense to my ex, but I don't think I would trust him to drive me around on a motorcycle.

Jax stopped at a red light and asked me over the rumble and roar of the bike, "How you doing back there?"

"Doing good." I told him with a smile, even though he couldn't see it.

Before Jax could say anything back to me Deputy Dipshit aka Captain America aka Hale pulled up next to us at the red light.

"Already on the back of Teller's bike I see." Hale remarked to me, loudly so I could hear over the roaring bike I was on with Teller. Hale and Jax have some kind of history; I just don't know what it is. I mean Jax said he went to school with the cop, obviously they don't get along.

"How else am I supposed to get around? Hitchhike or find Jack the Ripper for a ride?" I shot at Hale, making him look at me stunned and speechless.

"What do you want, Hale?" Jax asked, his body going rigid with tension under my hands on his waist.

I slightly patted his stomach with one of my hands, trying to hint to him to relax. Jax being all rigid and tense wasn't a good thing for maneuvering a Harley, or at least I didn't think so. I mean the light would be turning green soon, or I hoped.

Jax took one of his hands off of the handlebar and lightly patted my hand with it, letting me know in his own way that he'd be okay. As he put his hand back on the handlebar he stared down Hale, waiting for an answer.

"Heard your club's having a big party tomorrow; you know if noise complaints are called in the Charming PD will have to shut it down." Hale told us, throwing his cop authority in our faces.

Seriously who would call in complaints on a 4th of July party against SAMCRO? So far from the short time I've been in town I've learnt that a lot of people in town don't mind the MC. That the club does everything in its power to keep the town safe. Most of the club guys are mechanics at the only auto repair shop in town, so that provides a much needed service too.

I mean I know that SAMCRO is in some shady shit. They got a wall showcasing framed mugshots so I know they're not a bunch of choir boys, but they don't seem like the type to deliberately go out and hurt people either. Whatever, I'll find out how shady the shady shit is in time. So far I'm still fairly new in town and really don't give a shit. I mean you gotta do what you gotta do to eat and survive right? The house I'm being put up in is nice and I get great food every night, so if shady side shit along with a mechanic salary keeps me from starving and living in a shack then it's all good with me.

"Also do it yourself fireworks are illegal." Hale told Jax as he looked between the blonde biker and the traffic light ahead of him.

I'm starting to figure out that this cop doesn't just have a thing about keeping the town safe he has a beef with the club, or I think more so with Jax. I should ask Donna when I meet her and talk to her if Deputy Hale and Jax ever had a triangle or something going on with Tara. I mean that's the only reason I can think of for them to not get along, had a thing for the same girl who skipped town faster than Grant went through Richmond.

Jax shook his head and scoffed. "Tomorrow's a holiday, I'm sure you can take a day off from playing Captain America to enjoy it and stop sniffing SAMCRO's ass." The light turned green and right before we took off Jax said, "You ain't gonna find shit."

* * *

**AN: Coming up will be Austi meeting Donna. Have a great holiday everybody.**


	7. Meeting Donna Winston

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for all the follows, favs, and reviews.**

**I know this update's way overdue, but I've just been busy with Transcending Time. That story seems to take up all my muses.**

* * *

**Meeting Donna Winston**

**Austi POV:**

Feeling the sun beating down on my back and the having the wind blow my long blonde hair around me was amazing. Seeing the landscape pass by in a beautiful blur should've made me nervous, but it didn't. Being on the back of Jax's bike made me feel alive, made me feel a sense of freedom that I've never felt before. It felt natural to be on the back of his bike.

I don't know how long we've been riding for, but eventually we pulled up into the driveway of a nice house that was in a little development on the other side of town. This housing development screamed suburbs with all perfect looking lawns.

Jax parked behind Donna's car and turned off his bike's engine. "How'd you like the ride?" Jax asked, kicking out his kickstand while I was taking off my helmet.

"I enjoyed it; it was really fun." I handed him his helmet back by practically shoving it over his shoulder and into his face.

"Good cause I don't like riding in cages." Jax took his helmet and placed it on his handlebar.

"Cages?" I asked, a bit confused, as I got off of Jax's bike.

"Cars." Jax answered, getting off of his bike as I stood by it.

"Oh, okay, so guess I won't be driving you around in my cage then." I told Jax as we started to walk up the driveway.

"Hell no, we go anywhere you're riding bitch on my bike." He told me as we walked by Donna's car, getting closer to the front of the house.

"Good to know." I remarked as we reached the front door of the house.

"I think you'll like Donna. She's really nice." Jax said right before knocking on the front door.

I just nodded my head. I mean if Jax says she's nice then she must be. She's married to his best friend after all. I mean I don't think he'd drag me to meet somebody who he didn't think I'd get along with. I've only known Jax for like a week, but he seemed like a nice guy. A nice guy with some issues, but a nice guy anyways.

The door opened and a petite brunette stood in the doorway. She smiled while telling Jax, "Jax, I didn't know you were stopping by." She moved out of the doorway as she said, "Come on in."

"Yea, wanted to stop by and check up on you and the kids." Jax told Donna as he walked into the house.

"Who's this with you?" Donna asked, her eyes on me, as I followed Jax into the house.

"I'm Austi, Clay's niece from Ohio." I told Donna, not giving Jax much of a chance to introduce me, as she closed her front door.

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Donna Winston, but I'm sure Jax here has already told you that." Donna smiled warmly at me while Jax just stood by and watched us interact. Donna led us out of the front entryway while saying, "Kenny and Ellie are in the backyard playing, but I'm sure they'd like to see their Uncle Jax. They'll be excited to meet you too, Austi."

* * *

I was sitting at a small kiddies table with Donna, watching Jax play with Kenny and Ellie. It was cute watching the blonde biker in Uncle Jax mode playing with these little pre-k aged kids. They were currently playing tag and Jax was it, so he was running around like a headless chicken trying to catch the fast little Winstons.

"How long have you been in Charming for?" Donna asked me. I figured she would since I was new in town and all.

"Like a week maybe, it's nice though." I answered with a smile as I watched Ellie run circles around Jax as he tried to catch her.

"Really, how're you adjusting?" She asked, sounding genuinely concerned about my adjustment to life in California.

"I'm adjusting pretty good, or at least I think I am." I told Donna. "So, Jax says you're married to his best friend."

"Yea, I married Opie about 4 years ago."

She can't be older than 21, that's how old I found out Opie and Jax are.

"Oh, so you married right after high school?" Oh, good lord I couldn't imagine being married right now.

"Yea, well, I was about 7 or 8 months knocked up too so that kind of helped with getting married." Donna told me with a small giggle. "Opie just patched in when we got married."

"So, then you got married while Jax was getting dumped?" I blurted out, not thinking. Shit, there it is my word vomit.

Donna's eyes went wide and she took a quick breath. "Oh, you heard about Tara?"

I nodded while telling her, "Just what Gemma told me which was that she got Jax's crow and took off to Chicago for school, breaking his heart."

"His heart's not broken; he just thinks it's broken." Donna told me as she watched Jax try to tag Kenny, who ran off before getting tagged it. "Jax was 16 when his dad John died. Being upset and sad he latched onto the smart girl in all the AP and early graduation programs that was assigned as his math tutor before he dropped out."

Aha, so he needed somebody and she just happened to be there. Hell, he should've known she was gonna get the hell out of Dodge ASAP with all those fancy classes and programs she was in. Everyone I knew that ever did those AP and early grad programs always went into college only having to do 2 years instead of 4. Shit, Gemma said Tara wanted to be a doctor so if I do my mental math that girl's already in a doctor med program by now.

Okay, time to ask what's up with Hale when it comes to Tara and Jax. "Did Tara only date Jax or did she date that cop guy Hale too? I'm just asking cause Hale was a bit of an asshole about me being on Jax's bike when he pulled up next to us at a red light on the way here..."

"I'm pretty sure Tara was with him once or twice one of the times her and Jax were broken up, even though she always denied it. She would say that they were just friends, but I never bought it." Donna told me while Jax was still running around playing tag with Kenny and Ellie.

I just nodded my head at Donna while I watched as Jax finally tagged Kenny.

Donna smiled at the sight of Jax playing with her kids before looking at me and saying, "You know the reason why she got his crow was that she accused him of being with some other girl. Of course, he told her that he wasn't with any other girl, just her cause he loved her. She told him that if he loved her then he would give her his crow and make her his old lady."

"I heard her crow's a tramp stamp." I told her as I watched Kenny laughing as he tagged Jax, making him it again.

"Yup, she picked where it went, but he didn't want it on her as a tramp stamp." Donna told me before going on to say, "He tried to compromise with her and suggest that she get it on her hip, but she said no and got it as a tramp stamp."

"And then she shagged ass and left." I told Donna, pretty much getting the picture.

"Tara just leaving isn't what hurt Jax, it's what she said to him that hurt him."

"And what did she say?" I asked, curious to know what could've been said to send Jax into a downward spiral of becoming blackout drunk and fucking any croweater that he could woo while being slobbering drunk.

Donna took a breath before going on to tell me exactly how bad the Jax and Tara breakup was. "She told him that she wasn't going to get stuck in some small town being some old lady house wife to an outlaw mechanic with a GED when she wanted to go to the big city and become a doctor. She told him he had to go to Chicago with her while she went to Northwestern and he told her no. When he said no she was upset and said that he was choosing some stupid criminal biker gang over her and he blew up and told her that he wasn't going to leave his family and legacy behind for her. That if she was going to Chicago, she was going without the loser outlaw biker cause he wasn't going to follow her to Chicago to become Mr. Knowles while she became Dr. Knowles."

"Damn." Was all I could say. I mean what else could I say? Jax and Tara seemed to be more jacked up then me and my ex ever were. I decided to change the subject off of Tara and Jax so I asked Donna, "Where's your crow?"

"On my hip."

"Nice." I told Donna before going on to say, "I got a shooting star tattoo on my hip. It's a thing with my best friend back in Ohio."

"Tell me about growing up in Ohio." Donna smiled at me as we both watched Jax try to tag Ellie, but nearly trip over his feet instead as she ran by him faster than lightning.

"My hometown, Northon's about 50 miles away from Columbus and it's small. I mean it's smaller then Charming."

"Oh, is it a farm town?" Donnas asked, seeming sincere in her curiousity about Northon.

"Yea, it is." I nodded. "I was raised in a farmhouse even tho we never farmed anything. My ex was raised down the road his family had some horses." Sometimes when shit got to heavy and my parents were in a drunken fight, I'd take off to Markel's to hang out with him or just hang around the stables. Too bad he was a raging man whore tho. "But my best friend was raised in one of the neighborhoods closer to downtown." I added in as an afterthought. I missed Hope, even tho I saw her last week and we talked and texted. Not having your best friend by your side was a bit lonely.

"Okay, so what did you do for fun?"

"Nothing much. Just the usual shit kids get into." I deflected since I wasn't really in the mood to go down memory lane about my childhood in Northon right now. Truth be told, it still stung that my dad picked my bitter drunk stepmom over me; kicked me out.

* * *

I don't know how long I was talking with Donna for whenever Jax, looking exhausted, walked over to the kiddies table and sat down at it. "Donna, you need to stop giving your twins so much sugar. Those kids are hyper as fuck." Jax exclaimed, pulling his pack of cigarettes from his cut.

I took a drag off of the cig I was currently smoking as Donna told Jax, "I don't give them too much sugar. They're 4 Jax, they're always hyper. You just wait til you have kids."

"I'm not having kids." Jax mumbled as he lit his cigarette up.

"You say that now, but then you'll knock up a girl and have kids." Donna told Jax as he took a drag of his cigarette and placed his pack back into his cut.

"Wrap it before you tap it." I told Jax with a teasing smirk as I flicked some ashes onto the ground.

Jax just laughed and told me, "I can't believe you just said that.

"What? Wrap your shit and no kids." I teased him while Donna just giggled.

"I already know that." Jax shook his head and held back a laugh. "Talk about kids, Donna, you should bring Kenny and Ellie over to the SAMCRO 4th of July party tomorrow at the clubhouse."

Donna's smile dropped from her face. "No, Jax, I don't want my kids around the club."

"It's a holiday party, not club business." Jax told Donna as he smoked.

Shit, Jax really wanted her to bring the kids. At least that's how it seemed to me. I had to help him out with trying to convince her. Here goes nothing. "Yea, there's going to be a slip and slide there for kids and lots of food. I should know about the food, I had to help shop for it." I quickly told Donna, a smile plastered on my face.

Jax smiled wide, "Yea, Donna, bring the kids for the slip and slide and all the free food."

"Fine, I'll think about it." Donna sighed sternly as she watched her kids play on their little playground nearby.

"Okay." Jax nodded his head, accepting her answer as he tossed his cigarette bud onto the ground. He then pulled some money out of his cut. "This is for you and the kids." Jax said, offering Donna the money.

Donna shook her head and her jaw jutted out as she said in a cold tone, "Jax, I can't take the club's money. Not with how Opie's in jail cause of the club."

"It's not club money, it's mine and I want you to have it." Jax quickly lied. I think he told Donna the white lie cause he wanted her to take the money for the kids. It was clear that he cared about those kids.

"Jax…" Donna sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly, as she shook her head. "Thanks, but I can't take your money.

Damn, just take the fucking money before I open up my mouth and say something. Like why won't she take the money? She's got kids, she could use that money. Shit, I'd take the money.

"Yes, you can take it." Jax nicely told Donna. How the fuck he was keeping his cool with Donna as she turned down money that could be used to feed her kids was beyond me. Especially since I've seen how he can get pissy real quick. "Donna, I want to help cause Opie's my best friend. Please take the money."

"Okay, okay, I'll take the money only because it's from you." Donna told Jax as she took the money from him.

Damn, if she only knew who the money was really from…

* * *

After leaving Donna's house Jax pulled into Sonic so that we could get something to eat. Since he was on a motorcycle we had to park and walk up to the window to order. We ordered chili dogs and chocolate cookie dough concrete custards. He insisted on paying for mine. I tried to protest, but he paid anyways.

We were sitting at one of tables, we were the only people sitting at the tables actually. A few cars were parked in the drive-in part and some cars were lined up at the drive-thru.

"You think you could become friends with Donna?" Jax asked me as he took a large bite of his loaded chili dog.

"Yea." I answered before taking a bite out of my own chili dog. "We exchanged numbers while you were chasing the kids, so I think we'll be hanging out soon or something."

"That's good, both of you could use a friend."

"It's really nice of you to look out for her and the kids while Opie's up in Chino."

"He's been my best friend since we were little. He's my brother and we both patched in together, so I owe it to him to check up on Donna and the kids."

"You're a really good friend."

"Thanks. I try to be, but it's hard with Opie on the inside and Donna pulling away." Jax sighed, frustration clear in his voice.

"She's just upset that Opie's in jail." I told Jax as we ate our food.

"He's been locked up for a few years now. He didn't just get put in. She's had enough time to blame the club. She needs the club's help with the kids and money."

"She told me she's been pulling doubles at Lumpy's." I told Jax, pointing out that Donna was working.

"Tips and shit pay ain't enough to make the bank she needs to pay for her house and feed the kids." Jax said as he finished up his chili dog. "When Opie bought the house, he had the money from our runs to make the payments. Now Donna's struggling to make a house payment, pay her bills, and feed the kids all cause she's been listening to Mary and pushing SAMCRO out of her life." Jax ranted as he started to eat his large chocolate cookie dough frozen concrete custard.

"Huh, who's Mary?" I asked since I haven't heard about any Mary or met her yet.

"Opie's mom, she hates the club and divorced Piney when Opie was little. She comes and goes, but since Opie got locked up, she's been filling Donna's head with anti-club shit." Jax told me

"Oh…" I sighed, now knowing who May was. Shit, what was it with people either loving the club or hating it? Can't there be a middle ground of club toleration? Anywho… "So, what exactly is Opie in for?"

"Donna didn't tell you?"

"No, she said she didn't want to talk about it and that it was the club's fault." I told Jax as we ate our frozen custards.

"He's in for arson." Jax simply said. He said it like he was talking about the weather, like it wasn't a big deal.

Arson, shit Opie's a little pyro? He burnt something down and Donna blames the club. Why would the club need him to on a pyromaniac tirade?

"What did he burn down and how did he get caught?" I curiously asked while eating a spoonful of my cookie dough concrete custard.

"That you don't need to know."

My brow rose up to my hairline. I don't need to know. Um I'm going to be Donna's friend; I think I need to know. "And why not?"

"You're still new to the life and you don't need full disclosure from me since you're not my old lady." Jax told me right before he shoved a spoonful of his cookie dough frozen custard in his mouth

Oh, so since I'm not his old lady I only get half-assed answers. Bet if his precious smarty-pants Tutor-Tara asked he'd tell. Jackhole…

Jax looked at me, his blue eyes on mine, and told me, "I'll tell you shit on a need to know basis."

"Okay…" I sing-songed, scooping out some of my frozen custard with my plastic red spoon. Need to know basis is as good as it gets, I guess. I got a lot to learn about club life, hopefully I can catch on quick.

* * *

**AN:**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter. The next one should be the 4****th**** of July chapter.**


	8. Red, White, & SAMCRO!

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for the follows, favs, and reviews. **

**Thank the quarantine for this getting edited and up so fast. I swear, social distancing=lots of writing.**

* * *

**Red, White, & SAMCRO!**

**Austi POV:**

It was the 4th of July and the Teller-Morrow lot was packed. So many people were at the clubhouse for the big party Gemma was throwing. The inside of the club's main room was decorated to the hilt with red, white, and blue streamers. Food was being cooked and served and everyone was mingling.

Clay was manning a grill, making steaks, burgers, and hot dogs. Gemma had a large pot of chili cooking in the kitchen of the clubhouse. Some croweaters and sweetbutts were fixing up salads and other simple platters of food. Bobby had brought a bunch of baked goods to the party. God, I swear that man was the best baker in the entire goddamned world.

Man, there was so much food. I've never seen so much for a party in my life. Okay, well I wasn't raised around party people. I mean my dad and step-mother didn't throw me and my step-sister real birthday parties. Being allowed some friends over for a sleepover and homemade tacos doesn't count as a birthday party. Not like we had that many friends to even invite to a birthday party anyways.

Anywho…the SAMCRO 4th party was going great. I was dressed for the occasion in a teal and pink bikini top with white shorts and flip-flops. I had started the party wearing a tie-dyed tank top that matched the bikini, but ended up taking it off due to the heat.

It had to be like 94 degrees out plus a heat index, so it really felt like 110 or something. Being from Ohio I wasn't used to the heat yet. I can't understand how some women are all dressed up in pants and leggings cause I'm dying from the heat, but like I said I was raised in Ohio so the dry heat of California is something I need to get used too. God, if I ever get used to it that is.

At least water cools you down when you're hot. That's why I was at the slip and slide helping the little kids slide on the water slide. To help the kids that were too little to run and get traction themselves meant that I had to run with them and push them down the slip and slip, causing the sprinkler set up in the slide to spray me.

The little kids seemed to like me and their mothers were happy I was watching them so that they could go try to bag themselves a Son. Let's face it a lot of these cute kids have croweaters as mommies. Some of the kids have old ladies as mommies, true, but most have croweaters and even sweetbutts as their mommies. More or less every one of the single mommies at this event was in the market to become an old lady. It was the main goal of croweaters and sweetbutts.

And then there was me, born into the Morrow family and automatically a part of the club.

Speaking of kids and mommies, one mommy with kids I didn't see at the party so far was Donna. Donna said she would think about bringing Kenny and Ellie, I thought she would too, but so far she hasn't come. Oh, well, there's still plenty of time left to stop by. Hopefully she'll stop by. Jax really wanted them to come too.

I had just finished helping a little red haired girl in a Little Mermaid bathing-suit go down the slip and slide whenever I spotted Jax. He was standing nearby talking to some guys. He spotted me and smirked before continuing his conversation with the group of guys he was drinking beers with. A small group of kids ran up to the slip and slide. I had to help a couple of them down the slide. When I looked over my shoulder I noticed that Jax had finished his beer and was walking away from the group of guys.

Whatever, I got better things to do then worry about what Jax is doing. Things like helping the tiny-tots down the slip and slide.

"My turn, my turn!" I heard Jax shout.

I turned my head to see Jax barreling towards me. Was he going to go down the slip and slide fully dressed in his jeans, black reaper shirt, white sneakers, and cut? I stepped aside so that Jax could use the slip and slide. I thought he would run by me, but I was wrong. He grabbed me as he continued to run towards the slip and slide.

"No, Jax, no you put me down!" I smacked him with one hand while holding onto his neck with the other so that I wouldn't fall out of his grasp.

"Live a little, Darlin', and have some fun." Jax told me as he reached the slip and slide and flung us onto it.

"Oh my god!" I half screamed half laughed as we went down the slip and slide while Jax just laughed and shouted.

We went down the slip and slide pretty fast since the water slide was coated in dawn dish soap, a trick used to make it extra slippery.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Jax asked me as we sat at the end of the slip and slide.

"Yea, it was." I admitted to Jax as I tried to get up. Unfortunately water and soap doesn't mix well with flip-flops so I ended up slipping and falling right on Jax, who was trying to get up as well.

"Shit." Jax laughed as we continued to bust our asses while trying to get up and off of the end of the slip and slide. "Whose bright idea was it to put soap on this damn thing?"

"Gemma's." I deadpanned.

"Hey, you two all slippery and wet over there and didn't invite me. I'm offended!" Tig shouted at us from across the lot.

"Shut the fuck up Tig!" Jax shouted at Tig as he finally managed to stand without sliding and falling.

"Oh, be nice to poor Tigger. It's not his fault he's demented." I told Jax as he helped me up. "You hear that Tigger, it's not your fault you're a demented fucker!" I shouted at Tig, trying not to laugh.

"Jax, stop fucking around with my niece and come over here! I need help with the grill!" Clay shouted at Jax, pointing a pair of grilling tongs at the blonde biker from across the lot where the grill was set up at.

"Duty calls." Jax told me with a smirk, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

"Yea, go help the Prez with that grill V.P." I told Jax with a smile before he took off to go help Clay.

* * *

It was maybe 5 in the evening and the party was still going strong. I reckon this SAMCRO 4th party is going to be an all day and night thing. Whatever, that's cool with me. I don't mind. It's nice to be doing stuff and having fun on a holiday.

The club house was a bit packed, probably because all the food was set up on the counters in the kitchen. People were constantly coming and going in and out of the clubhouse because of the food set up in the kitchen. I was sitting at a table whenever my phone started to ring. I grabbed it from my back pocket and flipped it open.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"_Hey, kid, Happy 4__th__ of July." _I heard my dad tell me over the phone. He sounded sober, so either he just got home from a shift at the garage or he ran out of his Crown stash to drink.

"Thanks, dad, you too." I told my dad as I spotted Jax walking out of the kitchen holding some Pepsi cans and some bowls of chili. Ah, so he was able to brave the crowd and get us some chili after all.

"_What'cha been up to?" _My dad asked me. Nice of him to ask since the last time I talked to him he was in denial about being a reason why I'm out here in California.

"Nothing much, just at a 4th of July party." I shrugged even tho I was talking on the phone. Guess it was just a natural impulse.

"_Town of Charming thing or SAMCRO thing?" _My dad asked as I heard him unscrewing the top of his Crown bottle in the background. Ah, so my first thought of he just got home was right. Hell, I knew he couldn't actually be sober for long.

"SAMCRO party." I honestly answered my dad right as Jax sat down next to me, placing the bowls of chili and the soda cans on the table. I silently thanked him by mouthing 'thank you' to which he just replied by nodding his head at me.

"_Augusta…" _My dad sighed heavily.

"What?" I asked my dad as I shoved a spoonful of chili in my mouth. Oh my god, Gemma's chili was amazing. Seriously it's the best chili I've had in my entire life.

"_I don't think you should be at that SAMCRO party." _Of course he would have the nerve to tell me that.

"Dad, did you forget that I live with SAMCRO's president and he's my uncle? I'd be crazy if I didn't go to the SAMCRO 4th of July Party." I told my dad a bit sharply. Jax looked at me with a raised brow as he ate his chili.

"_Augusta, you can't be partying with SAMCRO all of the time. Think about your schooling." _He reprimanded me.

"I'm going to go to college and I don't party all the time. Don't worry, I'm fine." I told my dad while eating my chili.

"_Augusta…" _My dad sighed. Oh boy, this was a lecture type conversation today. _"I don't want you to become one of those girls that hangs around the clubhouse and parties with the Sons. Once you become a croweater you can't take it back."_

What the fuck? He thinks I'm stupid or desperate enough to become a croweater. Really?

"You seriously think that I'm going to turn into a croweater?!" I semi-shouted at my dad. I'm shocked that he would even think that about me.

Before I could even hear my dad's reply Jax, who I guess didn't like what he heard me semi-shout at my dad, snatched the phone away from me.

"You're a dumb fuck calling your daughter a croweater." Jax barked into my phone before hanging up and slamming it onto the table between our soda cans.

With wide eyes I looked at Jax and asked him, "Jax, why the hell did you do that?"

"I got bored of listening to your conversation." Jax shrugged before going back to eating his chili.

"You can't just snatch my phone and yell at my dad." I told Jax, hoping that he'd see how rude he was to my dad. It didn't matter if he didn't like what he was overhearing, it was rude and wasn't his place to hang up on my dad.

"He was disrespecting you." Jax grabbed his can of Pepsi and took a drink before continuing to tell me, "He told you that you're on your way to become a croweater when you're nothing close to that." He placed his can back on the table.

He seriously thought that his white knight in shining armor act was needed or wanted. Newsflash, I don't need some white knight in shining armor act bullshit to help me or defend me. I can take care of myself, been doing it long enough. I can handle my dad, don't need any help.

I cut my eyes at Jax. "It wasn't your place to hang up on him, Jax."

"You weren't going to do it, so I did." Jax told me, his voice edgy, before going back to eating Gemma's famous chili.

"Hey, Jackie Boy, Austi, how're ye doing?" The heavily accented voice of Chibs asked us as he walked up to our table.

"Fine." Both me and Jax told Chibs at the same time.

Chibs just looked between me and Jax, obviously figuring out that something had taken place between us, as he sat down next to Jax. Chibs had a plate of food and a beer with him. Thank god for Chibs, now me and Jax won't be fighting over my dad's phone call anymore.

"Ye going to help Tig with the fireworks so he doesn't blow his bloody balls off?"

The blonde biker just shook his head. "No, somebody else can help him."

"But, Jackie, ye always he-" Chibs started to tell Jax until Jax snapped at him with a loud, "I said no Chibs."

Chibs just nodded his head, his eyes looked a bit sad or worried. "A'ight then, ye won't help Tig. I'll help the bastard." Chibs told Jax, who seemed to be paying more attention to his bowl of chili then to Chibs.

"Who put Tig in charge or fireworks for tonight?" I asked before taking a drink of my Pepsi.

"No one did. He volunteered, lass." Chibs told me as he ate some chicken wings.

Of course oddball Tig would volunteer to play with minor explosives that could blow off his fingers, hand, or balls.

* * *

The night sky was dark blueish black and the stars were shinny dots of light shimmering in the sky. I was sitting on a picnic table, alone, watching the fireworks o off and cause bright bursts of neon colors to fill the sky. I was smoking and didn't notice that somebody had sat next to me. Well not until I heard a southern drawl ask, "Mind if I keep you company?"

I turned my head to the side and gave Jax a half smile. "I don't mind."

A loud boom sounded off, followed by bright green and purple fireworks lighting up the sky. Jax took a swig from his bottle of Jack and sighed, "I wish Opie was here. He always liked to do the fireworks."

Of course Opie liked to do the fireworks, he was locked up for arson. Arson involves fire. Shit, is Opie a pyro? Wait a minute, why is Jax telling me this?

Jax offered me his bottle of Jack and I took it from him. "Yea, how long did he do the fireworks for?" I asked before taking a swig of the amber liquid. It burned slightly going down my throat, making me feel a bit warm like NyQuil does when I take that for a cold.

I know I probably shouldn't be sharing a bottle of whiskey with Jax, considering my dad's a functioning alcoholic that has been in a love affair with Crown Royal ever since I could remember, but whatever. I handed him back the bottle, watching the dark sky erupt in bright red and pink fireworks.

"Since we were like 13 or 14." Jax answered me, taking a swig from the bottle.

Ah, yepper-roo, Opie was a little firecracker loving pyro even as a teen. I still wish that I knew exactly why he's in Chino for arson, but obviously finding out the answer to that ain't happening.

I offered Jax my half-smoked cigarette as I told him, "That sucks, no wonder the fireworks don't feel the same this year."

"Yea." Jax sighed, taking my cig. He took a drag from it while offering me the bottle of whiskey. I took the bottle while Jax sighed, "Donna never came with the kids. It's not right, she took a fun time away from them."

"Yea, they should've came." I said after swallowing a shot of whiskey from the Jack bottle.

"I thought she would bring them, you know." Jax told me as we traded the booze bottle and half-smoked cig with each other.

I took a drag from the cig as he took a swig from the Jack bottle. "I know, but I guess she just hates the club more then she wanted to give her kids a fun afternoon."

"Things were different before Opie got sent to Chino." Jax told me as he gave me the cig and I gave him the whiskey bottle. "Donna actually liked the club, but when Opie got locked up Mary started talking shit to Donna." Jax took a large swig from the glass liquor bottle. "The club just wants to help her out while Ope does his time for SAMCRO, but Donna keeps turning it away." Jax sighed, offering me the bottle.

Once again we traded for the cig and the bottle. "If she doesn't want help or to come to SAMCRO things there's nothing that we can really do to change her mind." I told him before taking a drink from the bottle while he finished up the cigarette I had given him.

Jax tossed the used up cig to the side and took the bottle that I offered him. "Yea…" He sighed before taking a swig of the whiskey.

"You know, I'm surprised that Tig hasn't blown up yet." I told Jax as I took the bottle from him.

Jax took his pack of cigarettes out of his cut while telling me, "Give him time and he'll blow himself up." Jax stuck a cig in his mouth, lit it, and took a drag from it. He handed it to me and took the bottle from me.

"Yay, firework Tigger. Colored red and a shade of fucked up to sparkle in the sky." I joked with Jax as I smoked.

Jax just shook his head, laughed a bit, and took a swig from our bottle of Jack Daniels.

I never watched fireworks while sharing a smoke and whiskey with a biker before, but so far it was a pretty damn good way to watch the shiny neon fireballs light up the sky.

* * *

**AN:**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I was hoping to show a lighter carefree/jokester side of Jax in the beginning, but then the heavy-hearted side of him at the end while getting nostalgic about Opie and the fireworks. I imagine having his bff in jail for like 5-years would be hard on him. And of course, I had to dig a little more into the messed-up daddy-daughter dynamic of Case and Austi. Yep, I can't help it, I HAVE to put angst in almost everything I write. LOL! **

**Next up will be a heart to heart bonding moment for Ja and Austi, btw.**


	9. Time Of Your Life

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for the follows, favs, and reviews. You readers are awesome.**

* * *

**Time Of Your Life**

**Austi POV:**

It was now mid-July and I haven't talked to my dad since the 4th. Oh boy that phone call was something else. My life in Charming seems to be pretty good so far. Me and Donna talk on the phone when she's not pulling doubles at Lumpy's. We had a lunch get together coming up soon; most likely she'd be bringing the kids to our lunch.

Gemma wanted me to sign up for school at the community college to make sure that I could start classes on time during the fall semester. So that's what I'm doing right now. I'm sitting on the couch in my oversized Nirvana t-shirt, something I stole from Markel durin' our first trial run of dating and often used as a jammie or lounge shirt, while filing out an application for college on my laptop. Eh, boring, but it has to get done.

I had just finishing filing out the information for my high school back in Ohio whenever I heard the front door open and shut. I tore my attention away from my computer just in time to see Jax walk by. "Hey, shouldn't you be at work?"

"Got sent home." He told me as he walked into the room. He had hung his cut up by the door so he was just in his Son shirt with his jeans and white sneakers.

"Oh, so you got fucked up last night and have a hangover now?"

"Pretty much, yea." Jax told me as he sat down next to me on the couch.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Mhm, and even though you get fucked up you're always able to stumble to your dorm to nail random croweaters and sweetbutts." Shit, did I just say that out loud? Yep there goes my word vomit.

Jax gave me a smug and cocky smirk as he said, "Yea, well, that's the fun part of being a free man. Can drink what you want and fuck who you want."

"Jax, having fun and stuff is different than drowning your sorrows over somebody you think you loved."

"The fuck you talking about?" He growled as his head spun around so fast, I thought it was going to fly off his shoulders.

I looked him in the eyes while honestly telling him, "I heard a little bit about how Tara left you from both Gemma and Donna."

"Oh…" He leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes.

It's time to rip the band-aid off. He can't be crying over spilt milk forever. Yea, I'm telling him the cold hard truth. "Jax, you need to get over Tara leaving you."

"I loved her since I was 16, how do I just get over that?" Jax asked me as he stared at the rings on his hands.

"I don't think you loved her, I think you loved the idea of her cause if you truly did love her you would've left Charming with her and you didn't. You stayed and she left." I explained to Jax.

Jax just nodded his head silently at me. Yep, I guess I better just tell him about Markel so he'll understand that he's not the only on who's high school sweetheart ditched them. But things were always rocket with me and my ex, but whatever Jax needed a pick me up so…

"You're not the only person that had their sweetheart pick college over them." I told Jax as he turned his head to look at me. Okay, so I got his attention now. "My ex Markel got offered a full ride football scholarship for Texas and one for Ohio State. Ohio State is in Columbus, bout 50 miles away from Northon, but he chose to accept the scholarship for Texas."

"I'm sorry he picked Texas over you. You didn't deserve that when he could've picked you."

"And I'm sorry that Tara pulled your heart out of your ass after giving you false hope by getting your crow and taking off."

"Shit." Jax lightly smiled and let of a mix between a sigh and a laugh. "We both got royally fucked by our first loves didn't we?"

"Yep." I told Jax, popping my tongue. Suddenly I had an idea. I don't know how good of one it is, but we'll see. Here goes nothing. "Oh, I can show you Markel in my yearbook if you'd like. It's upstairs in my room."

"Yea, let's go look at it." He nodded even tho he sounded like he'd rather get shot in the head. I think he agreed to just pacify me, but whatever.

* * *

**Jax POV:**

I was sitting on the bed in Austi's room, waiting for her to dig her yearbook out of a box that was in her closet. Great place for her yearbook, in a box shoved in the closet. Hopefully she doesn't ask to see mine since I don't have one. I dropped out; I hated school and didn't see the need for it. I always knew that I'd patch into the club, I didn't need a diploma for that. I got my GED and I can fix cars, just enough to get my outlaw ass by on.

Austi had decorated her room nicely though. Sure, it had the girly shit in it, but it wasn't too girly. It didn't look like Tinkerbelle barfed glitter all over it. Yea, some chicks go crazy with the girly shit. Not Austi, she seemed to find a nice middle ground between girly and not girly. Her bedspread that I was sitting on was floral, but was black and white. She had some hot pink pillows on her bed too.

I noticed on the side table by her bed she had a picture framed of her and Hope. The frame was green and had gold letters on it spelling out _*Live*Love*Cheer*_ on it. I picked up the frame and looked at it. Austi and Hope were smiling and had bear claws painted on their cheeks in green and gold. Austi's blonde hair was pulled up in a high ponytail with this big ass bow that was white with green and gold sparkles on it. Hope, the crazy bitch friend, had her blonde and teal highlighted hair pulled back in a high ponytail with a big ass bow too. They had on green, white, and gold cheerleader outfits.

Ah, so Austi and Hope were cheerleaders. I banged a few in high school before I dropped out and got real hot and heavy with Tara. "You were a cheerleader." I told Austi as I put her picture frame back on the side table. For some reason she just didn't come across as the cheerleader type. Her friend, maybe, but not Austi.

"Yea and I lost my virginity to the captain of the football team. Rah-Rah." Austi told me as she opened up a box in her closet.

"What?" I choked out. Damn, I wasn't expecting to hear her say that.

"Jax, cheerleaders date football players and people who date typically tend to have sexy time." Yea, I know that, but I wasn't expecting her to tell me that she screwed that jockstrap. "I found the yearbook." She told me as she walked out of the closet, a big green book in her hands.

Great, now I get to see the jockstrap she screwed in high school. Good thing I don't have a yearbook, half the girls in that thing I probably screwed or at least got head from.

"Our mascot was a bear so that's why there's a gold bear claw on the front." Austi told me as she sat down next to me on the bed and dropped the book on my lap. The book was green with a gold bear claw on it; Northon High School was printed in gold bold letters.

I opened the book and on the front page was a table of contents. Ignoring it I turned he page. On one page was a large group photo of the senior class all sitting on bleachers in the gym. The page next to it had a bunch of bullshit listed. By bullshit I mean the class song, colors, flower, and quote.

"You class song was Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) by Green Day?" I asked, I guess I was expecting her senior class to pick something sappy.

"Yea and our colors were green and gold, like the school."

"A dandelion's a weed not a flower." I told her as I pointed at the picture of the weed listed as the class flower in her yearbook.

She laughed as she told me, "I know that, but some of the class didn't."

"What takes us back to the past is our memories. What brings us forward is our dreams. Jeremy Irons." I read out loud. Nice class quote, seems like they drank up that bullshit kool-aid about following your dreams. I don't think that Austi drank up that bullshit dream kool-aid. She never talks about her future goals; all I know is she's applying for college to learn nursing so she can get a job and be our club nurse. Okay, so she never said she'd be our club nurse but I knew that Clay'd make her do it once she got that nursing degree.

Augusta turned the page, tired of waiting for me to do it. On top of the page it said _Senior Portraits_. Okay, so here are the senior class pictures. I noticed crazy Hope's right away. Her name was Hope Beckett. She was smiling and had long curly dark plum hair. Shit, does she always have crazy hair?

"Oh, that's Markel." Austi's finger pointed to a picture of a guy with long dark hair, a beard, and grey-blue eyes that was a row under Hope's.

Mark Bennet. Mark? She always calls him Markel. "Mark? What the fuck, I thought you said his name's Markel?"

"It's Mark, I just call him Markel." She told me as we looked at Mark Bennet's picture.

"Oh, okay." I took a good look at Mark's picture. He had this blank, lost look on his face. It's your fucking senior picture, smile dumb ass. He looks like a dumb douchebag to me. I don't like him. "He's a fucking douchebag." I told her before moving on to flip the page. She just shook her head at me.

After flipping a few pages Austi pointed to a guy with curly red hair. "That's Brad Jenkins, Hope's boyfriend." Hope actually had a boyfriend. Bet he's as crazy as she is.

"Holy shit, he's fucking creepy." I told Austi whenever I saw a picture of a guy with short brown hair that had some crazy eyes. This kid gave me the chills, the way he was looking at the camera was not normal. "That kid looks like he's getting ready to kill the camera guy."

"Jordan Kohn." Austi read the name below the creepy kid's picture. "Oh my god that creeper had a few math and science classes with me. I had to dissect a frog with him in biology; he named it Frogger before he cut it open. I just did the worksheet, he hacked up Frogger."

"He's creepy as fuck."

"Yep." Austi said, quickly turning the page. "Look, there I am." She pointed to her picture.

I looked at her picture. She was smiling, showing off her pearly white teeth. Her long blonde hair was parted down the side, falling over her shoulders in soft waves. She had on these blue earrings that made her blue eyes sparkle and pop. It was the first time I ever saw her with bold makeup on. Her eyes were smoky and lined black and she had dark pink lipstick on. Her cheek bones had a hint of blush on them too.

She looked good, no better than good she looked fucking beautiful. Why she doesn't dress up is beyond me. If she took the time to do her makeup and dress up, she would give every Son a heart attack and make every croweater madder than a fucking hornet.

"Oh, you wanna see the girl I threw into the tree?" Austi asked me before I could compliment her on her senior picture.

"Sure." After flipping a few pages Austi pointed at this brunette butter face with the name of Allison Webber. No wonder this girl was picking on Austi, ugly butter face knew she wasn't going to be pretty like Austi when she grew up. "She's a butter face."

"Yea…well…Markel didn't think so…" Austi sighed through gritted teeth.

"He cheated on you with her?" Why would he do butter face when he had Austi? Austi's a pretty girl while Allison's a girl you gotta take from behind and shove her face into the pillow cause she's fucking ugly.

"No, we weren't together." Austi told me as she quickly flipped the page. "Look at the superlatives." She told me as the page I was now looking at was filled with students in pictures showing off their personalities and shit.

I saw Hope and she was in a striped high neck tank and her hair was pulled half back, making her look like some kind of '90s fashion model. The superlative under her picture said: _Most likely to become a fashion designer_. Markel was in his football jersey and had his hair pulled back into a bun. His superlative said: _Most likely to join the NFL_. Wow big surprise there. I didn't really care about the other kids and their superlatives.

I flipped the pages until I found Austi's picture. She was wearing a black and white floral shirt and had a half smile on her face. That picture captured her perfectly. I can't pinpoint why, but it seemed to show her personality or at least the one I've gotten to know while she's been living with me. Under her picture it said: _Most likely to run away_. "Yea that fits."

"What?" She asked before looking at her picture. "Oh that, yea guess it does." She chuckled, the apples of her cheeks round and turning a slight red shade.

I flipped through the pages until I got to the homecoming week section. It was full of pictures of different students dressed up as different shit. The week 's list was: _Monday-Halloween, Tuesday-Superheroes, Wednesday-Twin Day, Thursday-Loser Lionell Day, Friday-Spirit/Game Day, Saturday-Lovin' The 80's Homecoming Dance_.

"What's Loser Lionell Day?" I asked Austi, a bit confused since I was never into the homecoming week bullshit before I dropped out of school. Tara never wanted to go to football games or dances either, she was always studying or with me. And when she was with me we were getting into shit; getting busted by the cops for disorderly conduct or underage drinking; other dumb shit too.

"Lionell High's our rival and Loser Lionell Day's when everybody dresses up in Lionell colors and looks like dorky losers." She explained, which just caused me to nod my understanding at her.

I spotted a picture under the game day section that was of Markel, Austi, Hope, Brad all dressed up in their uniforms on the sidelines. The way Markel had his arm over Austi made it look like he was trying to force it to look like they were happily posing for the picture. At least Hope and Brad really did look happy.

Yea, I've had enough of this shit. I'm just going to flip the pages and glance at the pictures.

"Look, it's the prom stuff." Austi told me as she pointed to a page I tried to flip by.

"Yea, I didn't go to that shit." I dryly told her as I read the title of the page, _Enchanted Forest Prom_. Enchanted Forest Prom, what the fuck shit is that? "Looks like it was bullshit." Pink fake trees, glitter, and lights were all over the place and students were all crammed together dancing.

"It was bullshit."Austi agreed with me. "I went with Markel cause we had already paid for the couple ticket, but we weren't actually together anymore." She told me as she pointed to a picture that was of her and Markel standing in front of a pink backdrop with a white tree painted on it. They must've been a popular 'couple' to make it into the yearbook a few times.

"Fuck that, I would've stayed home." I told her as took a better look at the picture of Austi and Markel at prom. He looked like Harry from _Dumb & Dumber _with his powder blue tux. All he needed was the top hat and cane. Austi tho looked hot in her blue dress, one that hugged her in all the right places and had a side slit in it. Hey, I know I don't know her that well, but I'd have to be blind not to notice that she's smoking hot whenever she dresses up.

"Jax, no, you can't not go to prom. You know what kind of people don't go to prom?" She gasped.

"Yea...me..." I told her since I didn't go to prom.

"Oh, hell, you don't count. You dropped out." She said as she rolled her eyes at me. "Now let's skip past the underclassmen and go to the sports and club stuff."

"Sure." I told her, even to I could care less, and then flipped the pages until I found the sports section. Of course, the first page was the football team. The team was sitting on the bleachers of the football stadium. How stereotypical.

On the side of the page were the headshots of the captain and co-captains. Mark Bennet had captain under his picture along some bullshit about how he got a scholarship for Texas. He had on a muscle shirt in the picture, it showed off his ugly ass tribal arm band tattoo. Everything about this guy screamed douchebag, bet he uses Axe body spray too.

I flipped the pages until I came across the cheerleading page. A group of 10 girls were all lined up in their uniforms posing with their pompoms and big smiles. I bet Markel got around with this cheer team. Except Hope, I doubt he went near her since she's annoying.

I flipped through some more pages until I got to the end where all the signatures are. I read a few of them.

_Make sure to watch my college games on tv.-Mark_

Only a douchebag would tell the girl they dumped for football to watch his football shit on tv.

_You know they say if you get arrested together you'll be BFFL. At least my mugshot was prettier than yours, BFFL-Hope_

Wait, Austi and Hope got arrested? Oh this I got to hear. "What did you and Hope get arrested for?"

Austi just shook her head and smiled, I assumed she knew that I read what Hope signed her yearbook with. "Truancy at the IHop during a blizzard in March."

"You got arrested for skipping school?" I skipped school all the time and never got arrested, but my mom is friends with Charming's chief of police so that might've been why I never got booked for that. I got booked for other shit tho.

"Yep and the cop was a total dick. He tossed all my shit out of my purse, made me pick it up, slammed me on the hood of his car and cuffed me. I got tossed into the back of the squad car, but Hope got treated much nicer." She grumbled as she told me the details of her arrest. "I normally don't like cops, except Unser's cool."

"Of course, Unser's cool, he's SAMCRO family." I told her before I went back to reading the yearbook signatures.

The last one was written by that creeper with the crazy eyes.

_I'll be seeing you-Jordan _

I closed the book and handed it back to her. "You spent your senior year with a douchebag."

**Austi POV:**

"Markel's not a douchebag. He's just a dumb jock." I told Jax as I placed my yearbook on the end of the bed. "You got any pictures of you and Tara? I know you dropped out so no yearbook."

"No, my mom took all the Tara pictures and had a bonfire with them." He told me and I can tell that he was serious.

I can just picture it now, Gemma loading the firepit with wood and pouring an entire bottle of lighter fluid on it before tossing in every single picture of Tara (who she hates with a passion) into the larger then life flames.

"Oh…so how did you meet Tara? I met Markel at a football game." I asked Jax, even though I already knew how he met her. I just figured he might want to tell me himself. That it might help him move past his weird hang up on her.

Jax played with the rings on his hands as he told me, "I 16 and was failing geometry, my teacher and school counselor arranged for Tara to be my tutor."

"Okay. So did you date long? I was with Markel for maybe a year and a half with a few breaks."

"On and off with Tara for 3 years." Jax told me with a shrug as he randomly looked around my room.

"Damn, no wonder you're a complete wreck." I can't imagine how much crap he went through with her.

He quickly protested with, "I'm not a complete wreck."

"Sure, if you say so…"I sighed. "You know Markel drove me nuts at first. He just got under my skin, I'm not sure why, but then he grew on me. I went out with him to get away from my house."

"What'd you mean?" Jax asked me, his brow hitched up with curiosity.

"My dad's an emotionally absent functioning drunk and my step-mother's a cold and cruel woman who's a selfish wino. Cheerleading and Markel kept me occupied." I explained without going into too much detail about my childhood.

I never liked talking about how I was raised. I was raised to respect your parents, so I wasn't going to bash on my dad and step-mom. I was never beat or anything like that. I just didn't get a lot of hugs growing up. Me and Asher grew up together and somehow, she was the cheery corky girl and I was the jaded one with the guarded outlook on life.

Jax nodded his head in understanding. "I hooked up with Tara a couple months after my dad died. Tara understood; her mom took herself out when she was 9. My mom was getting close to Clay and I felt alone. Tara's dad was the town drunk so she was alone too. We hooked up cause she needed me and I guess I needed her too." Jax told me, showing me a bit of his vulnerability that he always hid behind his badass biker bravado.

"You needed her for a time, but you don't need her anymore. She left, you stayed, and you're fine. You're still standing strong. You're the club's V.P., but you've only moved on halfway with your life. Let go of the puppy love bullshit and you'll be much happier."

"Is that what you did, let go of the puppy love bullshit?" He asked me a bit dryly, his blue eyes boring into mine.

"Difference between me and you is you let yourself believe the puppy love was going to last forever and I never believed that. I never made myself believe that it was going to last forever, I went by the whatever happens happens outlook." I explained to Jax and we sat together on my bed.

It hurts less when you get left behind if you don't let somebody in all the way. Making future plans and shit makes it real, real gets you hurt. Planning too far ahead leads to disappointment. I learned that all too well with all the broken promises from my dad and step-mom about vacations, trips, and other shit growing up.

* * *

**AN: Whoo-hoo Jax and Austi had some bonding time. Now remember Jordan, even though he's just mentioned now he's going to be a pain in the ass much later on. Jordan looks like Pope from AK, complete with creepiness and crazy eyes. Now this is going to be a bit of an angsty slowburn with some drama here and there, but Jax is now on his way to letting go of Tara. Yay!**


	10. Mel's & TM

***Author's Note***

**Thank you for the follows, favs, and reviews.**

* * *

**Mel's & TM**

**Austi POV: **

I pulled my red car into a parking space at Mel's Diner. It was a nice sunny day today, but it was still hot as hades out. I was meeting Donna for lunch today. It's been a while since we hung out since she was always so busy working, but since she only had the night shift today, we made a lunch date. A much needed one.

After turning off my engine I grabbed my bag and got out of the car. My car wasn't so crappy anymore, Uncle Clay fixed the air and Jax changed the oil and put in a new battery. The car could use a paint job, but at least it worked better than it ever did before.

I quickly finished my smoke and walked into the diner. It looked like the décor hasn't been changed since 1955. The walls were painted powder-blue, the floors were black and white checkered tile, all the booths, chairs, and bar stools were red vinyl, while the countertop and the tables were white. All these old vintage food signs were hung on the walls too. A gumball machine was on the counter.

I haven't seen a gumball machine since I was like 12 and my step-grandma Rue took me and Asher out to CiCi's in Columbus one Sunday after dragging us to church.

I spotted Donna and her kids at a booth so I went over to join them. "Hey, Donna, how're you and the kids?" I asked the petite brunette as I slid into the booth.

"We're good. How're you doing?" Donna smiled at me as she took a sip of her water.

"I'm doing good." I told Donna as a waitress in an outdated uniform came over to us.

The waitress placed a red menu folder in front of me while asking with a smile, "Can I get you anything to drink?"

I nodded my head and smiled, "Yea, a Dr. Pepper."

"I'll have that right out for you." The waitress smiled before walking off to go get my drink.

"I applied for nursing school the other day." I told Donna as I flipped open my menu.

"Isn't that a 4-year program?" I heard her ask as I looked over the menu, noticing the section titled _Burgers/Sandwiches_.

"Technically the nursing program is only 2 years. The programs and classes I have to take before the nursing one is like 2 years too so that's why it's going to take 4 years to become a nurse." I explained to Donna as I closed my menu, having decided to get a classic cheeseburger and fries combo.

"Oh." Donna nodded her head as she watched her kids color in their coloring books.

The waitress walked up to the table and placed my drink in front of me. She took out a pad and paper from her apron and smiled. "Are ya'll ready to order?"

I just nodded my head as Donna said, "I'll have the cheeseburger with fries. Both of my kids want the chicken strip basket with the barbeque dipping sauce."

"And you?" The waitress smiled at me.

"The cheeseburger and fries, please." I politely told the waitress.

I was always nice to waiters and waitresses since I once worked as one back in Ohio. That job was short lived though, since my manager was always coming on pretty strong to me and I quit after getting tired of always rebuffing the manager's advances. I mean the guy was nearly 40, had a fiancé, and a 5-year-old daughter so there was no way in hell I would be buying what he was trying to sell.

"I'll have that order out in a few." The waitress said as she placed her pen and pad into her apron before walking off to the kitchen.

"I wish I would've gone to college. It's hard to get a good paying job without a degree." Donna told me once she was sure the waitress was no longer in earshot.

"You could always go back, be a part-time student in between working. Work around your work schedule." I suggested to the struggling prison-widow.

Donna shook her head at me and sighed, "I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"It costs too much money." Donna said before taking a drink of her lemon-water.

I took a sip of my before telling Donna, "You could apply for financial aid. With your situation with Opie in Chino I'm sure they'd be able to give out grants or financial help."

"No, I'm already on food stamps and welfare while slinging cocktails 60 hours a week at Lumpy's for minimum wage. I can't accept any more government help; I don't have time for school anyways."

"I'm sure if you asked the club could help." I told Donna, putting it out there that the club would help her out if she only asked.

"No, I don't their help." Donna snapped at me. She sighed, calming slightly, before telling me, "You don't understand what that club really is, but in time you'll see how messed up it is."

"Okay…" I sighed, knowing that I wasn't getting anywhere with my suggestions I decided to change the subject. "How's the kids doing in their pre-k class?"

"Good, they learn a lot there." Donna smiled before tickling her children and saying, "You two enjoy Ms. Molli's class and have fun there, right."

"Yea." Both Kenny and Ellie smiled and answered in unison.

A few minutes later the waitress came out with our order. The food was served in those plastic baskets with the paper lining in it. Talk about old school. The kids happily ate their chicken strips while me and Donna ate our cheeseburgers.

Most of our lunch conversation was based around her kids, but I guess that's cause she's a mom. I didn't mind tho. I'm just thankful to have a friend I can do lunch dates with.

* * *

I pulled into the TM lot, parking my car in an open space across from the clubhouse. I wasn't even sure why I was even here, other than the fact that I was nearby and had nowhere else to go. Plus, I guess I didn't want to go home and be alone since everyone was at TM. When I got out of my car, I noticed that the garage looked busy today, but the club house didn't look like too many people were inside.

I was getting ready to cross the lot and head over to the clubhouse, but was stopped whenever I heard Gemma's voice call out to me with, "Baby, how was your lunch with Donna?"

I turned towards where I heard Gemma's voice come from only to see her standing in the doorway of the TM office. Of course, she saw me pull in and decided she wanted the scoop about lunch. "I was good." I simply replied.

"Well, why don't you help me in the office and tell me all about it." She suggested even tho she shot me a look that portrayed she was ordering me to help her (not suggesting).

I let out a sigh and walked over to her. "Okay, but there's nothing to tell. We just had a girls' lunch."

"How's Donna and the kids doing?" She asked me, ignoring the sentence that I just told her, as I followed her into the office.

"They're doing good." I answered, taking a seat in the sofa that was adjacent to Gemma's desk.

"Good, even tho she's struggling to make ends meet?" And there is was, the real reason why she wanted me in the office with her to talk. "Austi, tell me truthfully, does Donna seemed overwhelmed?"

"She pulls a lot of doubles at Lumpy's, but she doesn't seem overwhelmed."

"She's overwhelmed, but she's just good at hiding it." Gemma said knowingly, picking a file up off of her desk and flipping thru it. Looking between me and the file she was flipping thru, she said, "Since you're her friend why don't you invite her to family dinner."

"I don't think she'll accept, Gemma. If she hasn't been coming to Sunday dinners since Opie got locked up why would me inviting her change anything?" I asked, watching Gemma place the file back onto her desk after pulling whatever paper she needed from it.

"Cause you're a friend and can give her a gentle push back into the club life." She answered me matter of factly as she started to type whatever was on the sheet in her hand into her computer system.

"I don't think she wants to be back into the club life. In fact, from the few times the club's been brought us between us she seems to hate the club."

"She doesn't hate the club, she's just angry and bitter that her old man's serving time." Gemma stated knowingly, rolling her chair a couple of feet to the filing cabinet next to her. "But what she needs to know is that she's not alone. Every old lady, myself included, has dealt with their man serving time." She told me, placing the paper into the filing cabinet and shutting it. "If Donna was back with the SAMCRO family she'd find ita bit easier to deal with the time Opie's got left in Chino."

"I'll talk to her." I relented, giving the Queen of SAMCRO a tight smile.

* * *

Shortly after agreeing to 'talk' to Donna about Sunday dinner, Gemma got a call from her friend Luann and took off to meet her at the nail salon; leaving me in total control of the TM office. I had no idea what I was doing, but she assured me that it wasn't that hard. She gave me a quick overview of what to do, which basically consisted of her saying 'Answer the damn phone, schedule appointments, and hand out cars to the boys. Oh, and input the invoices into the computer' before grabbing her designer purse and hightailing it out of the office and over to her Escalade in order to meet up with her friend.

So…yea…I'm just sitting in the office waiting for customers to call about their cars. Since I was bored, I was playing a game on my phone. I was so immersed in the matching game that I didn't notice Jax walking into the office from the garage connected to it. In fact, I was a bit startled whenever I heard his smooth southern drawl ask, "Where's my mom?"

After jumping (slightly) out of my skin, I placed my phone on the desk and answered Jax with a simple, "Getting her nails done with Luann."

"Ah…" He nodded his head, causing his blonde hair to rustle around his shoulders. "Well, the McCoy truck's done." Jax informed me, coming up to the desk and placing a paper along with a set of keys onto the desk. "Just call the number of the form and tell them their car's ready."

"Okay." I nodded. Picking up the form, I went on to say, "Gemma wants me to invite Donna to Sunday dinner. Do you think she'll accept?"

"No, but maybe you'll have better luck then me when it comes to getting Donna to come around."

"Donna told me earlier at lunch that I don't fully understand what the club is. Obviously, there's more to it than just riding and bonding over Harleys. Why did Opie get convicted on arson charges; what's the club really into that Donna's so afraid of?" Came tumbling out of my mouth in a case of unexpected word vomit as I looked up at Jax with a curious look on my face.

"Call McCoy about the truck. I've got to help Tig drop a transmission." He told me, instead of answering my question, before heading over to the side door (the one that connected to the garage bays).

Of course, Jax avoided my question by using work as a deflection. Well, guess if he's not going to tell me I'll have to do some digging and find out on my own. Google's a wonderful tool, plus I could always call up my dad and pick his drunk, but functioning (although emotionally numb) brain about SAMCRO.

Right after the sound of the garage door slamming shut behind Jax echoed into the air, I picked up the phone along with the form he dropped off. Quickly, I dialed the number written down and waited for an answer. When the customer answered with a simple hello, I told him, "Hi, this is Teller Morrow Automotive and I'm just calling to let you know that your truck's ready."

"_Thanks. I'll be there soon." _The man on the other end of the line, which according to the sheet in my hand was named Endor McCoy (What the fuck kind of name's that? Were his parents really into Star Wars or something?), told me before hanging up.

Well, looks like I just survived my first customer call.

* * *

I'll be there soon turned into half an hour before a large guy, that I swear reminded me of Billy Bones from Black Sails, walked into the office. I figured he was Endor McCoy since the handful of other people that came in dropped off cars or picked up other ones. Hell, even the UPS guy arrived with a shipment of parts before Mr. McCoy arrived. "You're here for the Colorado." I stated as the big guy walked over to the desk.

"Yep." The man popped his tongue. "How much do I owe ya?" He asked, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

Picking up the invoice, I read off the price of, "$550."

"Shit, all I had was some brake pads replaced." Mr. McCoy whistled as he took his card out of his wallet.

"The cost isn't the parts, but the labor." I told the Billy Bones doppelganger as I watched him slide his card into the reader that was attached to an iPad standing up on the desk.

"Hell…and Donna told me they had good prices." He remarked in a low sigh, shaking his head as he hit the confirm button for his payment.

My brows furrowed. "Donna? You know Donna Winston?"

While putting his wallet back into his packet, Endor answered me with, "Yea, we work together at Lumpy's. Why?"

"Oh, I'm just a friend of hers. We actually had lunch earlier today." I informed the customer while printing him out a copy of his invoice.

"Oh, yea, you're that new girl. Austi."

"Yep, that's me." I simply said while handing him over his keys and invoice.

"Well, reckon I'll see ya around if you ever come by Lumpy's to hang out with Donna." He told me, taking both his keys and the copy of his invoice from me. "See ya." He simply said before walking out of the office.

Quickly, I grabbed my phone and sent Donna a quick text of:

_Donna u didn't tell me that your coworker's Billy Bones._

Before I could set my phone down or open up a game, Donna's reply popped up. It read:

_So u met Endor. _

Quickly I replied:

_Yes. He got brake pads done on his truck._

After a moment, Donna replied with:

_He plays gigs at the Hairy Dog when he's not working. I would suggest that we see a show, but Jax and Clay won't like it._

What? Quickly, I replied:

_Why not?_

Donna's reply took me aback. I just couldn't believe my eyes when I read:

_The Dog isn't SAMCRO friendly. Lots of patrons don't like the club. Even the club girls avoid that bar._

Oh my god, my connections to SAMCRO are going to limit where I go and what I do? Oh hell no. Quickly, I typed up a reply of:

_SAMCRO doesn't own me, Donna. I say we go to your coworker's show. Make a girls night out of it._

Donna must've been hesitant because it took a few minutes before she replied to my text. Her reply was a simple one of:

_Okay... Pick me up Friday night at 8 and we'll go to the show._

Well, looks like I just cemented some Friday night plans with Donna. Bet that'll be a good time to pick her brain about the club and invite her to Sunday dinner.

* * *

**So, Austi and Donna are going to the Hairy Dog in the next chapter. Oh, how do you think that's gonna go down? **


End file.
